Back Home
by onceuponatimeismylife
Summary: In Season 2 Episode 1, "Broken", what if David made it into the portal after Mary Margaret and Emma jump in? Mixed with Charming family bonding and lot's of Snowing. Comes with a side of tacos. More like rated T-plus.
1. 1: I Will Not Lose My Family Again

**A/N: This is my very first fanfiction, so bear with me. I'm new to this, so... but if this goes smoothly, I'm planning on making this a big story.**

**In Season 2 Episode 1, what if David made it into the portal after Snow and Emma jump in?**

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****Chapter 1: I Will Not Lose My Family Again

The doors of the room started rattling as the lights flickered out. They all knew that it was almost time before the wraith broke in and they had to send it into the magical hat, which would send it to their home, which unfortunately no longer existed. That's what Regina said, anyway. The doors kept rattling as Regina spun the hat faster and faster, trying to make it into a portal again. It wasn't working.

"Regina-" Emma warned, stepping back along with everyone else from the far side of the entrance.

"I'm trying." She replied, still spinning the hat. Nothing was happening. They all heard the loud noise the wraith made from the hallway outside the doors, and prepared themselves for the worst. They knew it was too late. Regina paused and looked up as the double doors flew wide open, letting the dangerous creature inside.

David quickly ran towards the wraith with the flame on one of the "torches" he and Mary Margaret had made out of old brooms for everyone. Yes, they were a bit old-fashioned. He was prepared to protect everyone, just as he did back in the Enchanted Forest.

"Regina-!" Mary Margaret warned again.

"I know!" Regina replied, spinning the hat faster once more. The wraith was flying above David and he swatted at it, stalling the wraith so they could open the portal behind him. Nothing was happening to the hat.

"DAVID!" Mary Margaret shouted over the noise as she created a barrier with the gate in the front of the room, asking for more time, if it was possible. David looked behind him and quickly went to shut the two gates to block the wraith, then he set the barrier on fire.

"HURRY!" David shouted at them. The portal still hasn't worked yet.

"It's not working!" Regina informed everyone around her, trying everything she could to open the portal from the hat.

David stalled more, but they were all running out of time. The wraith swatted at him back, but missed. Him and the wraith kept battling.

"It's not working!" Regina yelled again, frustrated.

"What is the problem?!" Emma asked.

"Magic," Regina answered. "it's different here."

"Now would be the time!" David yelled at them, struggling to battle the wraith any longer.

Regina couldn't get the portal to open. It was useless. The magic here was too unpredictable. They had failed. Just then, Emma put her hand on Regina's arm, and Regina gave the hat one more spin. All of a sudden, a purple form of smoke came clouding around the hat as it spun on its own. The hat was opening wider, creating a portal. Regina looked at Emma, amazed.

The wraith sent David flying across the floor against the door. He noticed that the wraith then went straight for Emma and Regina, whose backs were facing the wraith.

"It's coming!" He warned, as loud as he could over the noise of both the spinning hat and the wraith. Emma saw the wraith behind her before Regina did and pushed her out of the way, safely from the portal as the wraith missed them and fell in. Just then, the portal caught Emma's leg too and tugged at her, trying to pull her in as well. Mary Margaret was too late to catch her in time. Emma fell in.

"NO!" Mary Margaret screamed, still trying to reach for Emma. She already lost her daughter once because of the curse; she doesn't want to lost her again.

"NO!" David noticed Emma fell in. He quickly got up and made his way across the room towards the portal. He jumped over the gate.

"I'M NOT LOSING HER AGAIN!" Mary Margaret said, then jumped fearlessly into the portal after Emma.

"NEITHER AM I!" David made it over the gate and jumped into the portal after Mary Margaret. The portal swallowed the three of them up, plus the wraith who went in first. Then all in the room went silent as Regina stared at the torn and destroyed hat.


	2. 2: Not Good

For what felt like an hour already, Emma, Mary Margaret and David were being towed by rope across their land that used to be called home. Now it was nothing but dead grass and hills and mountains and sand. There were two unfamiliar women who Mary Margaret and David had never seen before in their entire lives. David already tried fighting the ropes and untie himself to untie his family earlier, but he failed and had no other choice but to be lead.

"What is this place?!" Mary Margaret shouted from behind, breaking the silence. No one had talked the whole way there because they were all too tired from being dragged. It went silent again.

"Our home." The woman closest to the back with long, black hair answered from above on her horse. It sure didn't look like it. Just ahead, there was a long bridge of sand separating the waters surrounding them. It looked like it lead to an island far away, covered in fog. More walking to do for them.

* * *

It took them another hour, it felt like, to get to where their land must be. It was nothing but wooden huts on stilts and forest. Surprisingly, there weren't just the two people who were leading them that were alive: the whole island had people working to survive. David and Mary Margaret looked at each other, both thinking the same thing: it was impossible that there are still people living in this world, since the curse was supposed to cover the entire land.

The women cut the long rope that was leading the three and just left their hands tied.

Everyone in the village looked up and dropped what they were doing as David, Mary Margaret and Emma, plus the other two unknown women entered the camp.

"It's like they're refugees..." Emma stated.

"I think they are." David answered.

Suddenly, the black haired woman turned to them with a sharp look in her eyes as she tied her horse to a post. "We're survivors."

Out of nowhere, before David or Emma could stop her, Mary Margaret turned around and kicked down the blonde haired woman behind her.

"RUN!" She screamed. The three started running, but before they could escape, something knocked Mary Margaret down with full force, knocking her out unconscious. David and Emma heard a thump behind them and turned around to find Mary Margaret on the ground.

"Mary Margaret!" They both shouted as they went back and knelt on the ground beside her. David turned her over and saw that her eyes weren't open.

"Mary Margaret!" David shouted.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Emma looked up and yelled at the two women who approached them.

"Take them to the pit." The black haired woman ordered three men as they dragged David, Emma and the unconscious Mary Margaret away and threw them into a small, jail-like room with rock walls.

"BE CAREFUL!" Emma screamed as they threw Mary Margaret in with them with more force than necessary. The guards closed the door as Emma and David knelt beside her.

"Mary Margaret!" David shouted again. "Come on, wake up.

"Can you hear me?" Emma asked. No response. She looked up at David for an answer, but before he could say anything, he heard a noise coming from behind him. He stood up and turned around.

"Who's there?" Just then, he saw a silhouette of a woman standing in the corner of the room.

"Hello." A soft voice answered as a woman slowly stepped out of the darkness.

"Who are you?" Emma asked from behind David.

"A friend." the woman stepped closer towards them, and David could finally see who it was. She was definitely NOT a friend.

Emma stood up, and David slowly backed up towards Emma, shielding her. Emma looked confused.

"Emma, whatever you do," David said. "Do not trust this woman."

"Why-?" Emma started, but the woman interrupted.

"Hello there, _James_." The woman said. Apparently, she still hadn't heard the memo about the twin-change. His name wasn't actually James; that was his twin brother. His real, shepherd-boy name was David. "And who is this young lady? Did you finally give up on that filthy rag of a wife you had there?"

Angry at the way she insulted Mary Margaret and disgusted at what she thought who Emma really was to him, David spoke up. "Don't talk about Snow like that! She is nothing like that filthy rag you call your face. And who this woman with me is none of your business! How are you still here and what are you doing here, anyway?"

"David, who is thi-?" Emma started, but David put his hand up to silence her.

"This is someone way worse than Regina." He softly told her. Emma's eyes widened a little. He turned back to the woman and gave her a stern look. "Answer me, Cora."

"So harsh, are we?" Cora laughed softly. "What happened to poor little Snow, huh?"

"Answer me!" David was getting impatient. He didn't care what Cora was doing here, but he _did_ care about how there were so many survivors from the curse. If there was a way to get away from the curse, he would've done anything to get him and Snow and their precious little newborn girl to safety.

Cora's eyes then traveled to somewhere behind Emma and David. They both looked where she was looking and noticed that Mary Margaret was starting to wake up. David quickly rushed towards her, with Emma not far behind.

"Mary Margaret?!" David helped her up, then gathered her in his arms. She suddenly looked to see who was behind all of them, and noticed Cora.

"_You._" Mary Margaret said as she broke away from David. She stepped closer towards Cora, but David held her arm, in case she would walk up to her and punch her or something.

"Why hello, Snow," Cora said, smiling. "Long time, no see."

"What is this place? Where are we?!" Mary Margaret asked, with as just as little patience as David had.

"It's a little island our captors think of as their haven." Cora finally answered.

"Haven?" Emma asked. "From what?"

Cora turned to Emma. "The world's dangerous. What's left of it, anyway."

"How long are we gonna be down here?" Mary Margaret asked, searching for a way out along the rock walls.

"Yeah, we didn't do anything wrong." Emma joined. David nodded in agreement, but then looked at Mary Margaret, remembering that she did kind of kick her way out of being "prisoner".

"Neither did I." Cora replied. Mary Margaret paused from searching along the walls for an opening and waited.

"Then why _are_ you in here, Cora?" She asked finally, turning around and giving up on the walls. She stepped forward, away from the rocks.

"My daughter and the curse she cast sent me here." Cora answered. David noticed in Emma that it looked like a light bulb had just turned on in her head.

"You're... you're Regina's mother?" Emma asked, taking a step back.

"Yes, but you have nothing to fear from me." Cora replied, still her voice smooth and soft, almost sounding too... persuasive. Emma wouldn't buy it.

"How can we know that for sure?" David's voice boomed loud, growing more and more impatient, wanting out of this place with Cora in it.

"ENOUGH!" The four looked upwards toward the hole in the ceiling of the room, and saw a long rope drop down. "Our leader requests an audience."

They all looked back and forth between each other, then one by one, they started to climb up the rope.


	3. 3: Regina

**A/N: I am super duper sorry about the huge, long wait! I had 2 camps back to back, so that was two weeks away from my computer, and now I am grounded from all my electronics just for when I go to bed at night. I am SO SORRY! I tried typing during the day, but I didn't have enough time. Now I finally had enough time during the day to work on this :) I will try to get the next chapter completed much faster this time!**

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"So who exactly is Cora?" The silence was broken when Emma asked her parents as the three of them were being led to where they were supposed to meet the leader of the small island they were on.

"Well, to you, she is your great step-grandmother." David spoke up. Emma looked to him, suddenly interested in the reasoning behind the huge feud between her family and Cora's. "I've only met her once, but Snow told me a lot about her and Regina back before the curse."

Snow finally realized that David had just called her by her real name again. She looked up and smiled, but said nothing about it. Instead, she continued for him.

"I'm not sure if you've read Henry's book yet, but did you know that Regina wasn't always evil?" Snow asked Emma. Emma's eyebrows shot straight up at the thought.

"Are you serious? Regina? _Good?"_

__David chuckled quietly at the thought as well, but he's heard the story. Snow continued.

"Yes, Regina was actually good, just like us, but that was _before_ she met Rumplestiltskin."

It took Emma longer than it should have to realize she meant Mr. Gold. Of course it had something to do with him.

"In fact, Regina had even fallen in love with the stableboy, but neither Cora nor Henry - Regina's father - knew about their secret relationship. One day, when I was _very_ little, around 7 or 8 years old, I had been traveling with my family in search of a stepmother, since my mother had recently died from a sickness that I still don't know what it was. Anyway, that day, my steed was suddenly scared of something and took off running through the fields with me on it, and a stranger saw me in need of help and followed to help me off my horse before I fell. Guess who that stranger was."

Emma thought for a second. Well, this story is apparently about either Regina or Cora...

"Um... Regina?" Emma guessed. Snow nodded slowly, then continued while they were still walking to the main village.

"That's right. That is how I met Regina. Then-"

"Wait a second..." Emma interrupted. "Why does she hate you and David so much now, if she actually saved you?"

Snow looked at Emma. "I'll get to that part if you let me finish..."

"Sorry."

"As I was saying... my father, King Leopold, heard about the rescue, and proposed to Regina. Of course she did not want to marry my father, but Cora wanted her to be mannerly, which Regina did not. So Cora answered for her. I had followed Regina to the stables to tell her how happy I was that she, the kind woman who once saved my life, was going to be apart of my family, but I then saw Regina with the stableboy. I of course, because of how young I was, didn't understand love or any of that, so I tried to run back and tell my father about her and the stableboy, but they both saw me and Regina explained and told me not to tell anyone of it..."

"So..." Emma took the opportunity of Snow's pause in the story to talk. "With all the hatred she now has toward all of us, I'm assuming you told someone?"

Snow sighed. David grabbed Snow's hand in reassurance as they continued walking.

"Yes... I- I was little; I didn't know any better, and Cora told me one day that she would do anything to make Regina happy. Like, _anything. _So I told her about Regina and the stableboy. I thought Cora would just call off the wedding and let Regina be happy with the stableboy, but apparently, that's not what Regina told me what happened..."

Snow faded off. Emma wanted to know what that cruel woman did so bad that made Regina so mad to hate Snow so much. "So... what did Regina say that happened?"

"Regina told me... she said that- that Cora literally _ripped_ _out_ the stableboy's heart, and crushed it right in front of her, and forced her to marry my father..."

Emma's eyes widened.

"And it was all my fault..." Snow continued, blaming herself. David squeezed Snow's hand. She looked up at him and David saw that she had tears forming in her eyes.

"No, it wasn't your fault," David tried to help. "Cora would've found out anyway."

"Regina also told me that- that she was also about to run off with him, before I tattled on them, and- and they were already engaged, and I just ruined it by blabbing off to Cora about them, just thinking it would make it better and help Regina get what she wanted!"

"Shh..." David soothed, running his hand up and down her back, trying to calm her. Emma just walked along beside them, unsure of what to do. "You were too young. And didn't you say that Cora told you that she would do anything to make Regina happy? Isn't that _why_ you told her?"

"Well, yes, but I just..." Snow mumbled off. She took a deep breath, trying to get control of herself before she broke down in tears as they were walking into a full village of curse-survivors. The man who was leading them back to the village stopped.

"Wait here." He ordered as he left. A minute later, Snow was dry of tears from David calming her in his arms. From a hut in front of them, Snow recognized a tall man step outside and turn to the three of them waiting. She turned to David, who also apparently recognized the man.

"Snow? James?" The man stepped to the ground, approaching them. Emma was obviously confused.

"Lancelot?" Snow asked as she and David went up and embraced their old friend from all those years ago.

They stepped back. Lancelot held his arms out in front of him. "Where have you been? What happened? How did you get back here?"

Emma stepped up, interrupting. "Uh, hey, I'm Emma," she turned to her parents. "We can trust him, right...? I just want to make sure."

Snow chuckled. "Yes, we can finally trust someone here."

David turned to Emma. "Emma, this is Lancelot, the man who officially married Snow and me," then he turned to him. "Lancelot, this is our _daughter_, Emma."

Emma smiled shyly. Then something stuck to her about who David introduced him as. "Official wedding"? Was there more than one? Before she got to ask about that, Snow had already started talking, so she tuned in on what she was telling him.

"...Emma through the wardrobe and I found David on the ground, dying, and before I knew it, the next time I saw him as my Charming was in the middle of the street right after the curse was broken by my daughter, who is the savior. Then we get caught in a portal, sending a wraith here. We all thought the Enchanted Forest was ripped away because of the curse. Emma's son, Henry is back in Storybrooke, and now that we know this land is still here, I think it may be possible to go back."

"Henry..." Lancelot pondered, turning to Emma. "How'd you name him that?"

Emma looked confused. "Uh... I didn't. It's a long story, but I kinda share him with Regina. He's legally hers by adoption."

Lancelot took all that in. Then he spoke up again. "Well, who's hungry?"


	4. 4: Going Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or the characters. I wish I was that creative and that awesome, but sadly, I don't own any of it. Some of these lines are actually straight from the episode...**

**A/U: I'm better at timing this, and trying to make it longer for you guys... please don't hesitate to give feedback! Feedback helps me get my creative juices going. I'm leading this more into an "accidental" Charming vacation back home, so it might contain things that you would probably read in one-shots. This will start being less like canon, but not too much AU... so I'm open to suggestions, but I have many surprises :)**

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"What the hell is that?" Emma asked when Lancelot put the last plate of unfamiliar foods in front of her, Snow and David.

"That is chimera." Lancelot explained as he sat down with them at the table covered with food. Emma picked one up and studied it, then thought best and put it back.

Snow looked up at Lancelot. "I don't understand. We were told this land didn't even _exist _anymore. How did you all escape the curse?"

David turned beside him to Snow, who had been holding onto his hand since they met Lancelot again.

Lancelot answered. "It is a mystery. The curse struck, and when the smoke cleared, most of us had been torn from this land. But some of us here, in this particular region were left behind. We don't know how, and we don't know why. Finding this safe haven wasn't easy. It took some spilled blood, but worry not, you're safe here."

David spoke up. "I'm sorry, but we can't stay. I mean, what about the rest of our friends?" He gestured to Snow. "Red, Granny, the dwarves," then to Emma. "_Henry_. I wonder how he's doing, with all three of us gone. He was told this doesn't exist anymore. We have to get back, as soon as we can."

"Can you help us find a portal?" Snow asked Lancelot. He sadly looked to her.

"Leaving is unwise. The enchanted forest is as not as you remember it. The ogres have returned."

Emma's eyebrows shot up in alert. "Ogres? As in, 'fe-fi-fo-fum'?"

David turned to Emma. "Those would be giants."

"Ogres are far worse," Lancelot continued. "That's why we live here, on this island where it's safe... please stay. There are no more portals left."

David highly doubted that, and it looked like Snow did too.

"I might know of one," She told them. David suddenly turned his attention on her, looking confused.

"You do?" Emma questioned.

Lancelot looked up, majorly interested. "Where?"

Snow looked up and around her, taking in all her surroundings, making sure no one was listening. She changed her mind in giving full-length details.

"Cora is here. I don't feel comfortable voicing my plans. She's powerful."

"Not anymore," Lancelot informed her. "The curse stripped her of her powers. But given her reputation, we locked her up as a precaution."

Snow didn't feel like arguing with the man who practically saved her daughter's full life. "Nevertheless, I'm not taking chances. Trust me, I may have a way. Let us go."

It went silent as Lancelot thought about it. "I will allow it. But just if James will look after you both every single second of your journey."

David looked up at his name being said. Did Lancelot just say what he thought he just said? "Of course I will! I would do anything to protect my family."

Snow gave him a warm smile and David stroked her hand with his thumb.

* * *

David, Snow, and Emma set off on their journey after Emma retrieved her gun from the woman named Mulan and stocking up in weapons. Snow had the usual bow and arrow, but it wasn't her original one from before the curse struck. David was given a sharp sword sheathed and ready to go, but it also wasn't his usual sword.

Before they were even out of the village, Emma finally spoke up. "Okay Mary Margaret, what portal were you talking about earlier? You haven't told me anything, what's going on?!"

Snow stopped walking and turned to her daughter. David looked around for any bystanders that might hear them, but all was clear.

"The wardrobe." Snow informed David and Emma.

Emma's eyes widened. "The wardrobe? Like, _the _wardrobe_? _The wardrobe that sent little baby me to Maine? Do you think that could get us back to Storybrooke?"

"I don't know. We have to see if it survived the curse, then we'll see about making it work."

David finally found his voice to speak. He was speechless when he first heard Snow mention about going back home. Their castle. Where they were supposed to rule the kingdom as a family, and watch Emma (and who knows how many more children they would've had) grow up into a young, beautiful princess. "Are we really going home? Like, _home _home?"

Snow smiled at him, and he finally smiled back, knowingly. Yes, they were.

"Emma, you wanna see where you're from?" Snow turned to her as they started walking. "That's right. We're going home."

**Again, feedback helps! Please review! And if anyone was wondering (one person asked me, so this is what asking questions in the review does! I might do a Q/A thing or two, but only if I have enough questions), Lancelot, just like the real show, is not the real Lancelot. He is, in fact, Cora in disguise. I gave some hints too:**

**-He was very interested in Henry's name.**

**-He keeps calling David "James", and remember in chapter 1 when Cora still "hadn't gotten the memo"?**

**-Interested in the portal, which was one of the many things exactly from the episode.**


	5. 5: True Love

**Two chapters in one night! I'm doing this for you guys, because of the huge long wait last week :( and I think my mom also forgot about me being grounded... she hasn't been getting my electronics this week before she goes to bed... oh well. Ha! I don't mind! Feedback helps, so please leave a review!**

* * *

Henry woke to a soft knock on the bedroom door. He opened his eyes to the blinding morning sun shining through the blinds of the window and suddenly remembered where he was - at Granny and Red's house.

"Henry," Red softly spoke to him. She was leaning at the threshold of the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, looking at Henry, who was shielding his eyes from the brightening light. "How'd you sleep?"

She stood up straight and sat down on the edge of Henry's bed.

"I miss them." He told her. Red nodded in agreement.

"I know, me too. Well hey," she stood up and waited by the door. "Granny made pancakes for breakfast, if that will cheer you up." She smiled when she saw that made Henry's face sort of light up more. He sat up, but hesitantly, wondering if it would be right to be happy on a day where his mother and his grandparents were stuck in the Enchanted Forest (he just _knew_ they were still alive!) while his other mother, a.k.a his great step-grandmother, was trying to take him back all for herself. Hey, at least he was being protected by a wolf.

Henry finally decided to follow Red out the doorway into the kitchen of the sweet smell of pancakes.

* * *

David, Snow, and Emma were getting tired of walking through the fields and forest. They had been traveling for at least a little over an hour.

Emma stopped walking and sat down under a tree, leaning against the trunk. "All in favor of stopping and setting up camp here, say I."

All three of them said "I" in unison. Snow and David sat down under one tree and put their backs against the tree, also sort of leaning into each other.

It went silent, just taking in the smell of the forest and the trees and nature. The sky was a nice, clear blue above, and the tree leaves and branches were so beautifully wide and hanging over them, providing shade. Small flowers were blooming in the grass surrounding them. Emma picked a pink and yellow flower out of the grass, twirling it as she was deep in thought. Then she looked up.

"Hey, I don't know if this is a weak subject for you, but do you remember when you were telling me about what Cora did and how Regina now hates both of you for Snow telling on her?"

Snow and David nodded.

"I was just wondering, why does Regina hate David too? I mean, I'm pretty sure he had no part in that, right?"

Snow spoke up. "We didn't even know each other existed until way long after that."

David chuckled, and Snow continued. "Regina has just been jealous of the love we share."

David turned to her and smiled, and Snow returned a loving smile back to him. Emma watched their actions, and she almost couldn't blame Regina. The love Snow and David shared was definitely true love.

"Since I ruined Regina's chance of being in love forever, now she's trying to ruin mine."

It went silent again as Emma took that in. She looked over at her parents tree and watched them wrap their hands together and Snow rest her head on David's shoulder. It would be a good enough spring day to ask this question.

"I haven't read Henry's book yet, just maybe a page or two, but... I was just wondering... how did you guys meet?"

David and Snow lifted their eyes to meet Emma's. It had been difficult for her to learn that all of this fairytale story was actually true, and now she's faced with the whole land of the fairytale world, magic, and the Evil Queen's mother, and now that she learned her parents are the real Snow White and Prince Charming, it might be even more difficult to accept that and adapt to it immediately. Snow wanted to be called "mom" by Emma more than anything, but telling her daughter about everything her and Charming went through when they met was just as great.

Snow turned to David, then looked back at Emma and sighed.

"Well... where do I start?"

"How about I start?" David joined in. Snow confirmed with a nod, so he continued.

"I had a twin brother named James. I had never even met him in my entire life, because my parents never told me about him. James was a prince who lived in a castle with King George, my father, while I grew up as a shepherd with my mother."

Emma smirked. "You? A shepherd?"

David nodded. "I've heard James was a real jerk, but like I said, I never met him. One day, Rumplestiltskin gives my mother and me a visit, telling us my 'twin brother I never knew about' is dead. He was also known as a great hero who could fight with a sword easily, so I had to fill in for him in killing a dragon. He said I just had to go with the hunting group, but not to fight. I had to do this for King Midas, a rich king who King George was promised gold and other riches if we brought King Midas the head of the dragon.

"I had no choice but to go, so I went and we brought back the head. It was actually me who trapped and sliced the dragon's head right off, but that didn't matter. It turned out that King Midas had a daughter who was looking for a brave man to marry, and they could unite the kingdoms to one, rich kingdom and we could get the gold. Her name was Abigail. Guess who she was in Storybrooke."

Emma had no idea. "I dunno. Who?"

"Kathryn," David told her. He continued telling the story. "So anyway, my father gave me no choice but to accept the proposal and marry Princess Abigail. I had to-"

"Wait," Emma interrupted. "If you married that princess, then how are you and Mary Margaret married?"

David sighed. "I'm not done yet Emma..."

Emma gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"So I had to live with King George, and if I ended the marriage, he said he would go to my mother's house, burn down the farm - and we were _very _poor too - and he would kill my mother as well, and I loved my mother very much." David gave Snow's hand a squeeze, remembering their first wedding they had in the honor of his mother.

Snow gave him a small smile. "Go on, get to the good part."

David chuckled. "Yes, that is a good part. One day, Princess Abigail and I were traveling to the other palace, and I decided to take the scenic route. All of a sudden, we found a tree blocking the path, and once I found out it was cut down, a thief had gotten my small bag of jewels out of the carriage, which had a ring my mother had given me. She said that true love follows the ring wherever it goes. I had to chase the thief alone on horseback, and when I finally knocked them off their horse, I went to them, and that was the first time I had ever looked into the eyes of the most beautiful, most fairest _woman_ in the world."

"Aw!" Snow grinned up at him and gave him a chaste kiss. Emma smiled at the love they shared right there. Then she remembered what David just said.

"Wait, Mary Margaret, that was _you? _Why did you steal something from his carriage?"

"I thought that was the queen's carriage! No one ever went on the scenic route."

"So anyway," David interrupted. "I kinda called her a girl, so she slammed me with a rock and rode off with my horse. That is how I got this scar on my chin right here." He pointed to the faint scar on the side of his chin.

Emma's eyes widened at Snow. "Woah, you were sorta a badass back then."

Snow glared at Emma. "I still can be. I just choose not to. And hey, he deserved it. He called me a girl!"

David rolled his eyes. "I corrected myself about a minute ago at least. _Anyway, _I eventually had to actually set a trap for her to walk right into, which sent her up into a net high in the forest at the treetops."

"Oh boy, was that ever comfortable." Snow murmured sarcastically.

"That was where she first called me 'Prince Charming'."

"He also would keep telling me he has a name. Of course, but Charming was the perfect name for him." Snow leaned into David's arms and he went on, both perfectly content.

"We both agreed to get my jewels back from the trolls she sold them to, so on we went. On the way there, I wanted a small little drink of water from the river near where we were, so I went to get a sip, and BAM! she pushes me into the water, and just leaves me floating down the current."

Emma stared at the sweet innocent elementary schoolteacher, finding it impossible to vision those things.

"Snow escaped, and she got caught by Regina's men, but if it weren't for me, they would've gotten her and killed her. Instead, I killed most of them with a bow and arrow from a distance."

"Hey, don't take all the credit, I killed a lot too." Snow argued.

"Okay fine, with "Ninja Snow's" moves, she karate kicked them and all that..."

Snow rolled her eyes.

"So on the troll bridge, all was good and I was about to get my jewels back, but then I accidentally said something I wasn't supposed to say, and we got in a big fight with a bunch of trolls. Snow thought all was okay finally, so she almost left, but I had gotten caught by a few more, and I was about to be cut to pieces if it hadn't been for that lovely _woman_ to come save me with her little fairy-dust that turned the trolls into cockroaches. It was there on the troll bridge that I'm pretty sure our love was found."

Snow and David looked at each other with those adoring eyes that Emma couldn't stand it. They were destined to be together.

Snow made adjustments. "I don't think it was first at the troll bridge..."

"What do you mean?"

"I fell in love with you before, trust me." She smiled again. David kissed Snow softly on the cheek before continuing.

"So I had gotten my jewels back and I soon had to go find Abigail and the rest, and Snow had to go back into the forest and hide in her little corner of solitude, hiding from Regina's army. But before we departed ways, Snow did something that just made me almost grab her right there and kiss her."

Snow blushed, knowing what he was talking about.

"Oh great," Emma joined in. "What did you do?"

Snow looked at Emma. "I kinda stole Charming's ring from him and tried it on my ring finger..."

Emma rolled her eyes at her mother. "Well that's one way to make a guy love you forever."

"She did look beautiful that day, standing there in her ragged clothing and messy hair, wearing my ring that was supposed to belong to the woman I proposed to." David stroked Snow's cheek with his hand, blue eyes looking into emerald eyes for a moment.

Emma didn't want to interrupt, but she wanted to know how all this worked out. Sorry. "So what happened?"

They snapped out of gazing into each other's eyes and looked at Emma. Along with looking up, they noticed it was getting a little darker.

"I think we should be calling it a night." David suggested.

"Where are we sleeping?" Emma asked. "We didn't bring any tents. Can we just finish the story?"

Snow chuckled. "It's pretty long. This is a good place to stop, but I guess I can continue it. So... let's see... oh yeah, me trying on his ring. That was when we departed ways, and Charming was to get married. I was still in love with him, even when I got back to the small cottage I was living in with Red."

"Wait, lemme interrupt for a sec," Emma cut in. "First, you knew Red for long time before the curse?"

"Yes, I did. She was my best friend in fact."

"And second... I forgot, so carry on." Emma smiled, laying down in the grass, trying to get comfortable. Snow and David looked way too comfortable over at their tree."

"Okay. So one day, Red told me my Charming," Snow looked up at David, and David looked down at her and kissed the top of her head sweetly. "was getting married in three days, and I had learned that I fell madly in love with him, so I couldn't get over it. She told me about this man who had great magical potions and powers that could do anything. I went to him for something that could help me, but instead, he gave me a potion in exchange of a piece of my hair."

"Wait," Emma interrupted again. "I'm sorry, but potions... a piece of my parents hair... the true love's potion... was that man Mr. Go- Rumplestiltskin...?"

Snow nodded. "Yes, but he gave me a potion that was supposed to make me forget everything about Charming and who he was, _everything._"

Emma gasped.

"Right when I was about to drink it, I got a letter, and it was from Charming." Snow looked up and kissed David's jaw, which was where she could only reach from where she was leaning her back against him.

"I sure am glad I sent that at that time." David grinned.

"The letter said to meet him before his wedding, so we could go off and live somewhere away from the kingdoms and with each other."

"So that's what you did?" Emma asked, making sure.

Snow paused. "Sort of..."

Emma closed her eyes. Somehow, her parents love story was getting to her deep inside. She wanted it to go like most fairytales go: happily ever after, the end. But she couldn't change the past, so she opened them again.

Snow explained. "I did sneak in his castle, but I didn't make it very far. I made it up to Charming's level, and I even watched him walk by."

"You did?" David asked suddenly. Snow looked up and laughed.

"Yes, I practically melted on the spot, which is what got me put in the cell next to this grumpy old fellow named, well... Grumpy."

"...one of the seven dwarves." Emma carefully answered for herself. Snow looked over at her.

"That's right. One of his brothers, Stealthy-"

"Stealthy?! There was no Stealthy!" Emma argued.

Snow stayed calm. "I'm _getting_ there. So Stealthy got the keys and let Grumpy out, and I had talked to Grumpy about true love and why I was there, so he felt bad and asked Stealthy to let me out too. I followed them until they went into the courtyard, which was 'empty', but I knew it wasn't going to be for long. Sure enough, Stealthy was shot by a bow and arrow and I came marching in, threatening to light the castle on fire if they killed Grumpy too. I surrendered, and King George found Charming's note.

"King George wanted to talk to me, so he did, and he said that I go into Charming's room, and tell him I _don't _love him."

David closed his eyes at the pain of those words. Even those few words "don't love" were still a pain to his heart, even if the woman who said those words to him was the same woman squeezing his hand, and the same woman who he was stroking her hand with his thumb.

Emma looked mad. "Please tell me you didn't do what he told you to do."

Snow gave Emma a sad look, and Emma could read it easily. "Emma, King George said that if I don't do that, he'll kill his mother and burn their farm down. I had to."

She could feel her eyes water a little, so she blinked rapidly, trying to hold them back at the feelings and flashback of that horrible day. She could feel David place a lingering kiss on the top of her head.

"I had to..." Snow repeated. "I hated every single moment... except for when I stared at him packing before he noticed me in his room. Charming looked so happy to see me, and when he hugged me, I just felt so... so... alive, I guess."

She could feel her eyes watering more, creating puddles in her eyes.

"It's okay now," David whispered into her hair. "We're together, as a family. We survived those horrible days. Trust me, the days after were hard for me too, watching you not know who I was."

He was speaking louder, so Emma heard him that time. She put her hand on her face, almost like she was wiping stress off her face.

"You broke David's heart by lying to him, saying you don't love him, then you make him see you not knowing who you are? I think I'm done for one night."

* * *

After finding edible foods around, they found a way to all sleep comfortably. They stayed right where they were: Emma lying next to her tree in the grass and Snow cuddled in David's arms, except lying in the grass by their tree as well. Fortunately, it was the perfect temperature for them not to have blankets or pillows or anything. They were all comfortable, especially David's soothing words into Snow's ear right before they fell asleep.

"I made a promise to you all those years ago, and I've kept my promise every day since then. I found you."

* * *

**A/N: Okay, gone to bed now. 2:50am :) Please tell me what you like or don't like, or what I should add to what happens to them, etc. ANYTHING! I'm open to suggestions! But I bet you'll like what I have planned for this story...**


	6. 6: 28 Years too Long

**A/U: Warning, this chapter is a bit different from the ones before, but it's a good kind of different. Let's just say this chapter is more like a rating of T+ :) Please R&R! Feedback helps a LOT!**

Snow woke to a sweet, leisurely kiss, someone kissing her and caressing her face. Before she opened her eyes, she automatically knew who it was and instinctively kissed him back. She opened her eyes to David lying on top of her, but resting his weight on his elbows on each side of her.

"Good morning," David murmured into the kiss, and wiped a strand of hair out of Snow's face behind her ear.

"Mm," Snow smiled. "Good morning." She murmured back, linking her arms around David's neck, pulling him closer for a more passionate kiss, making up for the 28 years they had missed being with each other; creating a family together. Snow ran her fingers through his hair, kissing him nearly breathless. She hadn't woken up to a sweet surprise by someone by her side in a _very_ long time, and she missed this feeling being so close to him very much.

David left her mouth and started leaving a trail of kisses down her chin and to her neck, then to her collarbone. Oh how she wanted her Charming back so bad, him to be all hers for just a moment, but she couldn't right here, because she was probably scarring her daughter for life.

Emma.

"David," Snow murmured as he stroked her arms and went up with his kisses back to her mouth. "Where's Emma...?"

He seemed to ignore her question, but gaining moans from Snow as he slipped his tongue in. "Finding food." He murmured into the kiss. She took that as a "not watching" sign and deepened the kiss. Charming. All hers until Emma gets back. David slipped his hand under her shirt and caressed her stomach, then went even higher. Not expecting that, Snow let out an involuntary moan, deepening the kiss into a very fervent kiss they both had longed for. Arms still wrapped around his neck, she pulled him even closer to her as possible, taking him in while she still had him. She didn't want this moment to end.

She finally had her Prince Charming back. After 28 years of not knowing who he really was to her, she knows now. They found each other, and it apparently shows from how David's hand is massaging her breast and Snow bites down on his lower lip, then sucks lightly on it, not wanting to cause blood.

"Guys, _what the hell?" _Snow and David suddenly very quickly shot straight up at the sound of Emma's voice from behind them, David slipping his hand out from under her bra and shirt. Snow patted down her hair and straightened her shirt. They both looked up at Emma like guilty children getting caught doing something they weren't supposed to.

Emma was looking down at them, wide-eyed at what she walked into. All she did was go try to look for edible food for David and Snow not even five minutes ago. She should've known. Leaving those two lovebirds alone together after 28 years of blindingly wandering around, not knowing the real person behind their cursed personality, was a _very_ stupid move. Of course David would go straight to Snow to wake her up with a special surprise _right_ after she left.

After a few moments of them staying just like that, David finally broke the awkward silence, speaking to Snow. "Well... at least we're on the road to good parenting: traumatizing our daughter with visuals she doesn't ever want to walk into."

Snow blushed slightly and chuckled as she hid her embarrassed face into David's chest. His shirt would've been way off him if it weren't for Emma coming back early, empty-handed.

Emma didn't take that funny. "What the hell did I just walk into?! Yes, I wanted to be a family without the curse back 28 years ago, but you could at least not catch up with that by _traumatizing_ me and very intensely making out right in front of me, thank you very much!"

David calmingly held up his hand, Snow still clutching onto his shirt and burying her face into it, embarrased. "Emma. I'm sorry you had to see that, but," he smiled. "Snow and I haven't been alone in... _forever._ I'm sorry Emma. I just couldn't help it."

She stared at him, thinking over what he just said and how disgusting that sounded. "David! You practically just told me that you can't help but have sex with Mary Margaret! Can we just skip this and continue finding the wardrobe? Please?"

It pained both David and Snow to hear Emma still call her Mary Margaret, but all it needed to take was time.

Emma stormed off to the main trail to where they were heading last night before crashing here. Snow leaned back from David's chest and grinned up at him. "I know Emma would get even more mad, I don't know about you, but I kinda like traumatizing her with these moments she never grew up with."

David grinned back at her and stole another kiss before both of them stood up and followed Emma.

**A/N: I'm sorry it was so short, but I just typed this up and got to the end, wanting to continue the chapter, but then I decided that this would just be a fun little chapter to type up for you guys :) thank you so much for reading! I hope you are enjoying this! Don't worry, there's more chapters to come.**

**Oh, and in chapter 5, I'm pretty sure you don't remember off the top of your head, but do you remember when Snow was described as "Ninja Snow" when they were talking about how she was rescued from Regina's men during the story of how her and Charming met? Well I meant to put this in my author's note of that chapter, but I actually used the name Ninja Snow in honor of my oncer RP group on kik. I RP as Snow White, and one night, I told them I was playing the game "Ninja" with my best friend. They all love the game, and when I told them I was winning every single time (which was true), they started calling me Ninja Snow. I can't go on the chat much anymore because I am no longer allowed to have a kik (I will find some other way), so I wanted to add that in here for it to still be in use. A special shoutout to one of my RP buddies crayola7437 A.K.A "Jeffie" - Jefferson. Tell everyone I say hi on kik! :)**


	7. 7: Found

**A/N: I am on a roll here! I'm so glad you like my first fanfiction! And I just caught this mistake on my last author's note, but whenever I say A/U, I mean A/N as in author's note. I sometimes don't realize I do that. Please R&R! :)**

* * *

Emma, Snow and David were walking for hours and taking breaks all day long to get to the castle. They were all exhausted as they slumped against an old log in a big sandy plain. It had been an hour since they found a small river to get water, so they were getting dehydrated again.

All three of them had been quiet all day, but Emma finally spoke up.

"How do you know where we're going if you haven't been here in 28 years?"

Good point.

"Well," David said tiredly. "We sort of know where we're going. I didn't at first because I've never been over near that island in my whole life, but for the past few hours today, I've been recognizing some familiar spots from my childhood. But it feels just like riding a bike again; it feels like I never left."

Snow took in her surroundings, but then she furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought. David looked over at her and squeezed her hand, which he was already holding. Emma noticed that they found one way or another to connect to each other all day. It was either holding each other's hand or David putting his arm around Snow as they walked or even small pecks on each other's faces, necks, or mouths. _They are inseparable_, Emma thought to herself.

Snow suddenly stood up, despite how long they had already been standing and walking all day, and quickly walked all around the sandy plain. Emma looked up from dragging a stick around in the sand beside her and noticed Snow was hurriedly searching the area.

"Mary Margaret…?"

"Snow, what are you doing?" David asked in a concerning tone. He stood up to follow, but then just decided to stay there standing. Snow finally looked up and rushed back to them, a smile starting to show across her face. Her face lit up more and more and she went right into David's arms.

"Charming, do you recognize where we are?" She asked, looking up at him. Her smile faded a little, but still had a light to it.

His brows furrowed as he looked around, trying to remember. Then he finally recognized the log Emma was sitting against and remembers searching for something everywhere around and near it 28 years ago. Water.

"Snow," he started as he paused to look around more, confirming it. "Are we-?"

She nodded, tears forming in her eyes at both the good and bad memories surrounding her. Snow pulled David into another tight hug as his eyes started watering along with hers. Emma had been watching this reaction.

"Am I missing something?" She said. Snow and David wiped their eyes as they pulled apart and looked down at their daughter. She now had to know.

"Emma," She focused on her and motioned for her to come to them. Emma got up, throwing the stick far away, and walked over to her almost-crying parents, wondering if they were either happy or sad.

"What's happening? Where are we? Are we almost there?"

"This place right here," David's voice was cracking up a little. "Is very special to us. Your mother and I."

Emma was confused and wanted to learn more, so she took a guess at it. "Is this that scenic route you took and met Mary Margaret?"

Snow shook her head and continued in her saddened voice. Her smile had faded completely. "No, that's not here. Last night, when we were telling you the story of us, we never got to this part, but I'll summarize so you can understand.

"After I left Charming's kingdom after breaking his heart, the dwarves caught up with me and I stayed with them. They convinced me not to take the potion Rumplestiltskin gave me and I didn't. Not that night, anyways. The next morning, the dwarves were gone when I woke up, and I had been crying and crying because of what I did to Charming, so I took the potion and forgot about him immediately. The dwarves came in a few minutes later and told me that Charming escaped the castle, dropped the wedding, and went looking for me. He was searching for me to find me, just as he promised he always would. And I had no idea who they were talking about…"

David wrapped his arms around Snow's stomach from behind as she continued.

"Later, I wanted to go at Regina and kill her myself, so I went to Rumplestiltskin again, since he made me forget who Charming was."

She put her hands on top of David's hands on her stomach, like they would do when she was pregnant with Emma. She just needed to feel him with her while telling their daughter this story. It was hard for both of them.

"Rumplestiltskin introduced to me a magical bow and arrow that never misses its target, but it would turn my heart evil if I killed Regina with it. I didn't care and set out to find her on her way to her other castle. Then comes along a man who claims he loves me and he kissed me, but I knocked him out with a rock and tied him up to a tree. True love's kiss failed, but in order for it to be true love, the love has to be deep within both. When I finally saw Regina on her horse later that day or something, I aimed and fired the bow, but someone got right in front of it."

"Me." David spoke up, his voice back to normal again.

Snow smiled. "I still had no idea who he was to me, but then Charming explained to me the love he felt for me ever since the troll bridge. He kissed me, and I remembered him again."

"Finally," Emma complained. She's been waiting for the good part ever since last night.

"You have no idea how it feels to kiss the man you've been in love with for so long." Snow smiled as David kissed the side of her neck from behind. Then he moved his mouth to hers and locked lips. Knowing Emma was waiting, they unfortunately couldn't keep in that moment forever. They had to go on.

"_Right_ after our short reunion," David continued, pulling apart from Snow's lips but still having his arms linked around her. "I got captured by King George's men."

"Are you _serious?"_ Emma's eyes widened.

Snow nodded and continued. "After I apologized to the dwarves for my heartless behavior from the past few weeks, _all _of our friends – the seven dwarves, Red, Granny, a _lot_ of fairies, and many more – and I made up a rescue team to save my Charming."

"You did all of that for me?" David smiled, but then remembered all that work they did was useless then. His smile faded.

"Of course I did. I would do _anything_ to save you from King George, even back then if it was all useless."

"Useless?" Emma questioned.

Snow turned her attention back to her daughter. "Yes, it was all useless. When I finally got to the cells after we took out most of King George's soldiers, Charming was there. I found a key and unlocked his cell, ready to embrace him and spend the rest of our lives together, but I then saw it was just one of Regina's tricks. She put a mirror in the cell with Charming in front of it from _her_ castle. He had been moved."

David took a deep breath. "Do you know one of the very first things I said to your mother?"

Emma shook her head. She was far more than ready for a happy part back, but it didn't look like they were anywhere near one.

"'I will always find you.'" Snow quoted, turning her head sideways and looking into David's eyes. He kissed her chastely and continued.

"We always found each other, but it also turned out that we also lost each other. But we never lost faith. We always found each other."

Snow smiled at what he had to say. "That is definitely true. Anyway, Regina appeared in the mirror and told me to meet her, alone, no weapons or anything, where it all began. So I met her in the field she rescued me from that horse so long ago when I was very little. She threatened to kill my Charming if I did not eat the apple she poisoned just for me, so I ate it." She turned to David. "I believe you can continue, since I was asleep for all of what happened next."

He chuckled, rearranging his arms around Snow until they were comfortable again. "You know, when you ate that apple, I felt a searing pain in my heart. Literally."

Snow froze, and then she slowly turned her head to see David out of the corner of her eye. "Really?"

He nodded. "I just _knew_ something had happened. It was like half of my heart was ripped away from me. It was the worst feeling ever. Anyway, the huntsman, Graham in Storybrooke,"

Emma's eyes widened at the name. She completely forgot about Graham!

"He let me out and told me he knew Snow and was a good friend of hers, so I went out to find her in whatever trouble she was in. I went to Rumplestiltskin and he charmed my mother's ring to glow when I was near Snow. But in the deal, I had to hide a potion inside of an egg inside a dragon."

Both Emma and Snow gasped. Emma knew about the potion, but it now seemed _really _real to her from David's voice. Snow, on the other hand, never even _knew_ about this.

"What potion did he want you to hide!?" Snow questioned. She thought Rumplestiltskin just wanted him to do his dirty work for him in return.

David smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "A potion of True Love. Snow, it was our love bottled up as a potion. _Our_ love."

She gasped again, realizing what he meant. She heard it was impossible to bottle up love. Rumplestiltskin told her himself when she wanted something to help with her feelings of an already-taken prince at the time when she met Rumplestiltskin for the first time. But it was possible with _their_ love. Now _that_ is definitely true love.

"Right before I broke the curse," Emma interrupted her parent's eyes gazing into each other's. They turned their attention back to her. "I went to Rumplestiltskin for help because Henry got poisoned from Regina's apple turnover – long story – and he told me to get a potion inside an egg _inside_ a _dragon, _and told me it was a true love's potion made from both of your hairs."

"Did you have to battle her all by yourself?" David asked, concerned. Emma nodded.

David's brows furrowed, but Emma spoke again. "I defeated the dragon and Mr. Gold – I mean Rumplestiltskin – got the potion before I could use it for Henry, and that is how magic came to Storybrooke. Through that potion. And David… I used _your_ sword, by the way."

Both Snow's and David's eyes widened. First, they learn that their love was magical enough to bring magic to a world where magic doesn't exist, and then they hear that their daughter used a sword. Most importantly, she used her _father's_ sword. Trying not to get too emotional, David continued. "So, anyway, I got it in there, as you can tell from Emma's story as well, then went to wake up the love of my life. I woke her up with true love's kiss and proposed to her after with my mother's ring, the same ring she tried on the very day we met. Snow suggested we take back the kingdom, "together", so we caught up with Red and a few others who would support us and planned out how to attack." David paused, his voice cracking from talking too much. "Snow, do you want to take over?"

She nodded. "This is good timing to start with me, because this is something I never told you…"

David looked confused. "What?"

"Is this something good or bad?" Emma interrupted. She thought her parent's love life was happy and trouble-free, not hard and always separated.

"Yes and no," Snow explained. "It is something _awful_, but once you hear what it is, you'll already know it doesn't last forever."

David was still confused, so Snow explained further.

"So from where Charming left off, King George's men found us, so we had to split up. Charming sent me off to his old house to meet me in two day's time, but the leader of King George's army found me before I could get there and took me to the castle."

David gasped behind her. Snow pressed her finger softly on his lips, and David licked her finger in surprise, so she took it back down.

"Wait, it was that guy that Red warned us about? I can never pronounce his name…"

"His real name was Sir Lancelot." Snow revealed. David was speechless.

"Wait!" Emma interrupted again. "Was that the man who we met yesterday?!"

Snow nodded, then continued. "He took me to the castle and brought me to King George, where he droned on and on about his love life and what he had to go through, and then he poisoned me to be barren forever with no chance of producing children, just what he had to go through."

David spoke up, practically shouting in her ear. "He did that to you?!"

Snow caressed his hands on top of her stomach soothingly. "Yes, but we all know how that turned out."

David was so confused. "How did we break that?"

"Like father, like daughter," Snow murmured as she ignored his question. "Anyway, Lancelot had no idea King George was going to do that to me, so once he found me in the forest trying to find your old house, he explained, and that's how I trusted him."

"Snow, can I interrupt for a sec?" David asked. She nodded, so he went on. "While this was happening, I was traveling to my old house. When I got there, King George's men followed, so once I got there, I had to send my mother back into the house. I specifically told her not to come outside, no matter what…" His voice cracked and he could feel his eyes slightly start to water a little. "Sure enough, I was surrounded with no backup, but I took every single one of them out in less than a minute."

"Charming," Snow leaned into David and whispered, but to where Emma could hear. "Don't be such a show off."

David chuckled and kissed the back of her neck, squeezing her lightly but more closer into him. His smile faded after a while, knowing he had to keep going.

"But I remember turning around, and seeing my mother standing there, calling out to me, with an arrow in her chest."

Emma gasped. She was not prepared for that. David continued, even though his eyes were starting to water again. "Snow and Lancelot got there right when I was trying to save my mother. But before I go any further, I have something to say that Snow doesn't know about yet either."

Snow wasn't prepared for that either. She turned her head and gave him a confused expression. Instead, David gave Snow a short, chaste kiss, then continued into his new story. "When I first left the kingdom to find Snow, after Snow left me tied to a tree, Jiminy Cricket found me and _eventually_ untied me. I continued my search for Snow, but King George and Princess Abigail found me. She actually understood what I was going through, but her fiancé was turned into gold accidentally. She told me of a lake that the waters could bring things back,"

"Lake Nostos," Snow murmured to herself, remembering.

David continued. "So she sent me to get the water, but I had to defeat something that had never been defeated before. A siren."

Emma looked confused at why that was so horrible. She didn't even know what a siren was. Snow connected the lines, then turned her head to David again, mouth open in why he never told her this. Maybe she's about to hear the reason now. She knew _exactly_ what a siren was.

"Charming…"

David tightened his hold on her, never ready to let go. "Yes, I had to battle a siren… but Snow, the last time I was here, we saw there was no more water. That means that I won. That I overcame it. But it was hard for me, because you know that sirens can turn into _anything_ you desire…"

Snow took that in and realized what he meant. That must've been hard for him. "Me."

David nodded, but she couldn't see his response. "Yes."

"May I interrupt?" Emma asked. "What is a Siren?"

Snow replied, "A Siren is a monster that is in human form, but it seduces its prey into a trap to kill them, and it lures its prey by becoming something it desires very much." She turned her head around to David. "Charming, what did it do?"

"Snow, it wasn't easy. It became you once it realized I was stronger than I looked. But when I saw you again, coming out of that lake in a _very_ almost-transparent dress, I became weak. It was so… seducing. I was lured underwater, but I eventually had to kill it. I _knew_ it wasn't you because of the way it kissed me. It just wasn't the same."

"It _kissed_ you?!" Snow exclaimed, still looking at him.

"You _know_ I didn't want to; I was _weak!_ You have to know that! Once I saw it as you coming towards me, I just… Snow, I'm sorry! Just please know that you are the only woman in my life that I love deeply. I would do _anything_ for you. The siren became you because I love you more than _anything._ I am truly sorry. Please believe that, Snow."

Snow turned around in his arms to face him, and then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. David kissed her back with the same amount of passion into it. He took that as a "you're forgiven".

Emma watched her parents. They probably forgot she was even there, but she didn't want to interrupt. After everything they went through back 28 years ago, it sounded like they deserve this moment. Besides, it was just yesterday or the day before (she got confused) that the curse was broken. David and Mary Margaret were in a relationship for just a little while, but mostly were ignoring each other and in a bunch of drama. Emma remembered one day back during the curse when Henry showed her Snow White and Prince Charming's story in the storybook, but only the part where Snow White just gave birth to her and Prince Charming's baby girl and the curse was coming straight for them. Emma remembered reading that their last moment in their castle in their land was Snow White crying over her beloved husband's dying body from one of the Evil Queen's men stabbing him with a sword. Yes, as fairytale characters AND Storybrooke characters, they both had mostly hard times and needed a break in each other's arms.

Emma was jealous of her parent's love. The only guy who she only recently fell in love with was a guy who saved her mother's life 28 years ago and died by the Evil Queen's wrath.

Snow and David eventually broke apart a minute or two later, untangling themselves, suddenly remembering where they were, and noticed their daughter watching them. Snow blushed, embarrassed, but Emma smiled.

"Well," David said, breaking up the awkwardness flowing around them. "Anyway… we were telling Emma about my mother, her grandmother…"

"Right." Snow pushed. David put an arm around her and pulled her towards his side, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.

David continued from his story. "So as I was saying before, Snow and Lancelot showed up right when I was trying to save my mother. Snow had never met my mother before, so she only knew her for a short time. We found out nothing could cure it. Then I remembered the lake. Lake Nostos. It turned a solid gold statue into flesh, so it ought to heal my mother. We traveled all the way to the lake, only to find that it was dry. No water whatsoever. Nothing. Fortunately, Lancelot knew where to look and he found just a little to cure my mother. She drank it, but it didn't work…"

"Actually," Snow protested. "Lancelot told me he told her to fake it… it would've worked."

"What?! And how did she know the reason to fake it?" David asked, curious.

"On the way there, we spoke about you and she told me how much you always wanted to be a father of a son and all that. It just all came spilling out what King George did to me, but she told me that the water could also heal me too. When she found out there was only enough for one, she told me to take it, but she drank it instead… apparently she didn't."

"I see…" David was connecting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"So is this where the lake was?" Emma asked, waiting for an answer forever. Snow nodded.

"Why is it special then?" She then asked.

David and Snow smiled at each other knowingly. David spoke, "Well, one of your grandmother's last few words of her life were that she always wanted to live to see the day her son got married to the woman he loved. Snow asked Lancelot to marry us in front of her, so we got married on the spot, right there. He said there was a tradition back in his land with a cup that both the bride and the groom had to drink from a cup that promised eternal love."

Snow interrupted, "Lancelot told me that in that cup was the last remaining water from the lake. That is how we broke the curse King George gave me."

"Wow," Emma said in awe. "So if it weren't for Lancelot or my… grandmother," it would take Emma some getting used to. "I wouldn't be here right now?"

David nodded. "That's right. Even though she died right after our wedding vows, this is one of my favorite spots in all of the Enchanted Forest."

Snow looked up at him from his shoulder and kissed his jaw sweetly. David looked down at her and gave her a chaste kiss.

"I think we're closer to my old house than the castle," David said, looking up and taking in his surroundings again. Snow eased her head off his shoulder and looked around as well, remembering every single moment of their small but cute wedding, and when they said their vows to each other under the arch of flowers and vines, her mother-in-law watching them gaze into each other's eyes. Then she remembered burying Ruth, and she looked at David again.

"Charming, do you think Ruth is still here? Where we buried her?"

David gave that a thought. He hadn't thought about going to her burial site and visiting her.

David took Snow's hand and Emma's as well, and they headed up the hill, looking out for a big mound of dirt. Something crossed Snow's mind.

"Emma, this is also where I first found out you were going to be a girl." She told her.

David looked at Snow. "You knew? How?"

"Charming," She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You couldn't remember which direction meant what, so to my advantage, I let you keep guessing and guessing. Yes, I knew." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, but only for an amount of time that was teasingly too little time for both of them.

They continued walking until David ran up to a mound of dried-up dirt. He knelt in front of it as Snow and Emma caught up with him. He looked up at them with one tear rolling down his cheek, one hand on the dirt.

"Emma," He said, his tears almost taking over his voice. "This is your grandmother, Ruth."

Snow knelt down beside him right in front of the dirt and leaned into him. She felt tears slowly start to trickle down her face. She only knew Ruth for not even a day, but she knew that she was nice, polite, and a good woman to be around. She was the only family blood-related David had left, which was why he was sobbing now as tears landed on the mound of dirt. Emma stood awkwardly behind them as her parents mourned over her father's mother. She never met her grandmother, so she didn't know what to do. Finally, she decided.

Emma slid in between Snow and David and rested her hand on the dirt in front of them. She spoke softly, feeling a little strange, "Hi, grandmother…"

Snow looked over Emma at David and met each other's tear-filled eyes, realizing what Emma was doing.

"Thank you, for sacrificing yourself for me to be born. I'm here now. With my- my parents." It took a lot in her for her to admit that.

Snow and David were sobbing now, watching Emma talk to her dead grandmother she never met. It was all silent. They were both amazed at what Emma just said. She just called them her parents. Her mom and dad.

Emma normally didn't get this emotional, but she felt her own tears forming in her eyes. She never even met this woman, but she already felt a love between her grandmother and herself. If it weren't for her grandmother's sacrifice, Emma wouldn't be here talking to a dead woman she didn't even know.

A tear slid down Emma's cheek. She tried to hide it, but Snow and David were on both sides of her, watching her. All of a sudden, in one swift movement, all three of them stood up and gathered each other in a deep, emotional group hug, embracing each other tightly, never wanting to let go, letting all of the sorrow and sadness flow with their tears coming out like waterfalls. They stood in front of Ruth's grave like this, sobbing, for who knows how long, gaining energy and love from each other. Emma felt perfectly content in the arms of her parents, no longer needing to search for them, which is what she had been doing most of her childhood.

She found them. They found her. They will always find each other.

**A/N: Wow. Even ****_that_**** brought me to tears. Well, please tell me how I'm doing! Less lovey-dovey or more lovey-dovey? More family moments or less family moments? More canon or more AU? More storytime or less storytime? More scenes from the show or less scenes from the show? What would you like to see? I'm now definitely planning on making this a huge, major Snowing fanfiction filled with surprises, Charming Familyness, and possibly a side of tacos :) Thanks for reading!**


	8. 8: T VERSION Fresh from the Forest

_**THIS IS THE T RATED VERSION OF CHAPTER 8**_

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! They help a ****_lot_**** and reviews tell me what you want to see more of. I realize what you want to read in this fanfiction. Most of it is what I already planned, but just reading your reviews confirms it. Also there were some that I hadn't thought of or forgot about in the show, so thank you for those as well. Every review counts! Please R&R.**

**I had to do both a T rated and M rated version of this chapter. THIS IS THE T RATED VERSION. The next chapter is the M rated version, so if you would rather read more detailed Snowing taco smut, go to the next chapter, which is already posted. And the two version idea is NOT MY IDEA. I don't know who's idea it was originally, but where I saw it first was the great fanfiction author KayleeThePete in her fanfiction "Once Upon a Time... and Again". Just wanting to clear that up.**

* * *

"_This _is where you used to live?!"

David, Snow and Emma were standing outside the small farm David used to call home. After walking about half an hour there from Ruth's burial, they were all definitely exhausted. It only felt like 3pm to them, but they couldn't tell. It was almost 6.

"Emma, remember? I told you I was poor. We didn't have enough money to take care of it. I don't know where all the sheep went." David let go of Snow's hand and walked up to the door, swiftly opening it wide open. He went in first, just in case anything came out from the shadows to scare them or some magical spell Regina put on the house before the curse to make sure whoever walked through that door would walk right back out. He called out to behind him, "All clear!"

Snow and Emma came in after him, looking around the small house. To David, it looked just like it did when he lived here. Same kitchen, same dining table and chairs, same vase his mother always told him not to touch as a young boy, even though there were no flowers in it. There was the same ragged sofa and chairs, same wooden coffee table. The only changes were pretty much just a few cobwebs in the corners or under the furniture, but that's it.

"Where's the TV?" Emma asked.

Snow fake-laughed at her, "Emma, honey, there was no TV or anything like that back then."

Emma slumped onto the sofa and watched all the dust fly up as she did. She looked up at her parents who were whispering into each other's ear, then both laughing and giggling at each other.

"David, how long ago was it when someone was last in here?"

He looked up from Snow to Emma and thought for a second. "A _really_ long time. 28 years ago."

Emma's eyebrows shot up. "28 _years?_ I'm sorry, I know that number has been famous around here and stuff, but I _lived_ through 28 years, I was not frozen in time, reliving the same day over and over again or in a coma. 28 years is a _very_ long time."

Snow chuckled, "We believe you. Yes, that is a very long time."

They all just stayed like that for the next 10 minutes: Emma sitting up straight on the sofa, refusing to touch any other part of the dusty thing; David and Snow wrapped in a half-embrace, looking all over the room. David finally remembered something.

"Snow," David whispered down into her ear. Emma looked up at the sudden small voice, but seeing how they were side by side and had an arm around each other and David leaning his head down to Snow's ear, they just looked like they were the most perfect couple she had ever seen. She decided to eavesdrop, but not look like she was listening.

"Remember the last time we were here?" He whispered. Emma heard that, but she then thought she didn't want to know the reason. She faced the uninteresting wall, still listening.

"Charming, I was only here once, and that was only outside. What do you mean? I thought we already told Emma about all that?" Snow whispered back, confused.

"Oh, that's right, you were blindfolded." David grinned. Emma made a face towards the wall.

A light bulb blinked on inside Snow's head. She grinned back at him, and then asked for confirmation. "Our wedding night?"

David nodded, going in to whisper something else but instead, kissing right behind her ear, where he knew was one of her sensitive spots.

"Mm," Snow moaned. "Charming, not here." She murmured as she looked over at Emma, who was fortunately staring at the opposite side of the room. The last thing she wanted Emma to see was her own mother getting turned on by her father.

To Emma, all she could hear was silence, and then a few occasional voices, so she took that as a "Do not look whatsoever".

They were standing by the front door still. Instead of backing away from her because of their daughter's presence in the room, David just left a trail of kisses down Snow's neck and to her collarbone next. Unexpected small moans left Snow's mouth. She wanted Charming all to herself again, more, oh just in that moment, but she _couldn't_. And she needed him to stop immediately, or else Emma would definitely be scarred for life.

"Charming, oh," Snow whispered as quietly as she could. "Stop it, or else I will be out of control."

"Mm," David whispered as he went to the other side of Snow's neck. "I'd like that."

"In front of our daughter!" She whispered but exclaimed as quietly as she could.

David finally pulled back, disappointed. "Fine. But we just might have to replay our wedding night tonight, hm?"

"Are we staying here for the night?" Snow asked, talking a little louder, but more like a mumble than a whisper. David stood in front of her, grabbing her elbows and pulling her in a little closer.

"Yeah, is that okay?" David asked, making sure.

"Fine by me." Snow agreed. David gave her one of his smiles that practically just melted her heart right there on the spot.

"You know, just you and me," David went into a whisper again. "Alone, tonight. Finally getting a chance alone, together. We haven't been alone together in over 28 years, as Snow White and Prince Charming I mean. I think we kind of deserve it."

Snow grinned at David and bit her bottom lip, staring into those sapphire-blue eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she rested her forehead on his, while David wrapped his arms around her and they stayed like that for a while. They fit together perfectly like a puzzle complete.

"Okay guys, my neck is cramping from pretending I'm interested in this wall. Anytime soon now!" Emma shouted after a few minutes of silence from across the room, waking both Snow and David from their gazes into each other's eyes. They pulled apart from each other and looked over at Emma who was watching them now.

"And thank you," Emma concluded.

"For what?" David asked, having no idea what they just did for her.

"For not going any further than neck nibbling. I felt like I was going to have to be interested at that wall for a _long_ time." Emma spoke like it was obvious.

Snow blushed from embarrassment. "You saw that?"

Emma smirked, standing up and walking over to them. "This house is pretty small, and there are more than just walls to look at. I have corners of my eyes as well, so yes, I saw that."

"Let's change the subject…" David interrupted when he saw things going in awkward directions.

"I'm hungry," Snow mentioned. "Are we just going to live off of wild berries and all that for now?"

David thought for a second. "I think so. At least I know of a really good area of bushes and trees nearby that have good edible berries and grapes that my mother and I always picked off of. If I'm correct, it should be ready to go in this time of season."

Emma groaned, complaining. "Do I have to go pick more berries? I gave up last time because I had no idea what to look for, and there were spiders and spiderwebs and all that nature-y stuff."

"Yes, but I'll teach you what to look for," David chuckled. "I had to go fetch for berries a lot when I was little for my mother, so I know exactly what to look for. I'll show you."

"Okay good, because I'm not letting you two alone in here by yourselves anymore." And she went out the door. David grabbed an old picnic basket from the kitchen where his mother used to store it for him to pick berries. Snow and David winked at each other, and then followed.

"Okay," Emma paused to wait for David and Snow to lead. "Where to, David?"

He and Snow caught up to Emma who was standing outside the farm.

"First," David took the lead into the forest, the rest following behind. "I'll show you where to look for grapes."

"Grapes?" Emma questioned. "As in the purple and green, good, juicy fruit? Is that actually _edible_ from the forest?"

David chuckled at her comment, still walking. He stopped in front of a tall tree. "Yes, and here is a grape tree. I forgot what it's officially called, but I just call it the Grape Tree."

Emma looked up, and sure enough, hidden beneath the leaves, she saw bundles of dark, purple grapes. And they were reachable, too.

David reached up and plucked about a dozen grapes from a branch and three extra. He gave one to Snow and one to Emma, and left one for himself. "Squeeze the juice into your mouth."

Emma stared at him. "You expect me to eat this without washing it or _anything?_"

Snow laughed. "Emma, that's why you squeeze it, not eat it." Then she showed Emma, and then turned to David. "This is good!"

David smiled, and then squeezed his grape into his mouth. Emma refused. "I am _not_ doing that. It's literally _fresh_ from the forest!"

Snow rolled her eyes. "Well, then what will you eat? Because fresh from the forest is all we have."

Emma pondered that. "Fine." She leaned her head back and slowly squeezed the grape into her mouth. Just as the juice hit her tongue, she dropped the grape and made a face. David and Snow laughed.

"You think this is funny?" Emma looked at them. "That stuff is _nasty!_"

Snow put a hand on her shoulder. "Emma, I think you don't like it because you're just not used to it. Charming and I had to live off of wild berries and grapes. Even me, because I was in the woods escaping from Regina for part of my life."

"Ew. I can't believe you guys had to eat this stuff." Emma looked up at the tree in disgust.

"Let's move on to the next plant. Berries."

"Fun." Emma mumbled as David led the way.

They got back to the house with a basket full of grapes, berries, and other wild foods when it was almost getting dark.

"I'm starving!" Snow said when they got inside.

"Me too, but I don't know what I'll be having since all of it is forest food." Emma griped.

David closed the front door behind everyone and found a match and dozens of candles.

"Emma, you need to eat something," He said, striking the match and lighting a few candles. Emma watched him silently. "This is all the food we have."

"Is this all the lighting we have as well?" She complained, seeing all the candles lit around the living room. David looked up at the lighting, and then continued lighting the rest.

"We had no electricity," Snow explained, taking a match and striking it against the box David was holding for her, and she helped light the rest of the candles as she talked. "No TV, no radio, no cell phones, and even no running water that we have today in Storybrooke."

"No running water?!" Emma exclaimed.

"Well I do have a washroom," David told her. "And there's a hose outside for hose showers. But that's only if you're _not_ afraid of spiders. Also, Daddy Longlegs are sometimes found on the sides of the house. Hopefully you aren't afraid of those either."

Emma turned to him, a frightened look on her face. "The last time I saw a Daddy Longleg was when I was at least 10 or 11, and even then, I was so scared that I didn't sleep for days."

"They don't hurt you," Snow said, not looking up. "Yes, they're poisonous, but their mouths are too small to bite."

"I know that," Emma said, matter-of-factly. "It was a long time ago that I saw one, so I don't know how I'll react…"

When all the candles were lit, Snow and David looked up. It was a little brighter, and good thing because it was getting darker.

"What time do you think it is?" Emma asked, sitting on the dusty sofa. She could see all the dust float up with all the light around her from the newly-lit candles.

Snow shrugged, sitting down next to Emma on the dusty couch. "I have no idea. There're no watches here either. David, is there some sort of clock around here?" She turned to him, who was now behind them, leaning forward against the back of the sofa. He looked around.

"No, sorry I don't think so. It might be around 7 or 8pm. When I was little, I made a huge sundial right outside, but it didn't last very long."

Emma nodded slowly, getting tired from their adventure. Her stomach growled. She hoped her parents didn't hear that, but too late. David walked over to the kitchen where he put the basket of food and brought it over to his family, setting it down on the coffee table in front of the couch. Emma removed her feet from the table as David sat next to Snow.

Emma made a look of disgust that Snow saw.

"Emma, you haven't tried any of the berries yet." She pointed out.

"What if I don't want to?" Emma said back. David took over.

"If you don't like it, fine, but at least try it! You'll never know if you'll like it or not if you don't try it."

Emma heard a hint of frustration in his voice, so she slowly picked a berry from the basket. Trying not to make him more frustrated, she calmly spoke. "Do I eat it without washing it?"

"Here," Snow put the berry Emma picked up back into the basket and picked it up off the table, calmly turning to David. "Charming, why don't you go outside to the hose and wash these?"

David stood up and grabbed the basket Snow was handing out to him and went out the front door. There was an awkward tension filling the room.

"I'm sorry he was acting like that," Snow broke the silence. "He's probably like that because all he's ever wanted was a child of his own that would grow up to be just like him. I remember him telling me that a lot back all those years ago. He wanted a son or a daughter who would always want to go out horseback riding or sword fighting or hunting, and who wasn't scared to eat wild berries with him."

Snow let Emma take all that in. She nodded slowly, now understanding. David wanted her to be a daddy's girl.

After a few minutes later of silence, David came back in from the front door with the basket of berries.

"Alright," David sounded calm again. "I washed the food. Emma, you don't have to eat anything tonight, but I highly recommend it. The hose outside is good to drink out of if you're thirsty."

He went over to the couch with Snow and Emma and set the basket in front of them as he sat down. He grabbed a handful of all sorts of berries they picked earlier and leaned back into the couch. Snow did the same. Emma looked up over at her father sitting beside Snow who was sitting beside her.

"David," Emma quietly spoke. David looked over at Emma as he popped a grape into his mouth. "I'm sorry I've been complaining today," She continued sincerely. "I'm just not used to being in the middle of all this nature, and needing to survive off of food from trees and bushes, and water from rivers and lakes. But I'll get used to it."

David smiled at Emma. "Hey, no, I should be the one apologizing. You're not used to this forest. I am. We all still need time adjusting being here, as a family. The curse just broke only a few days ago, and you're just now learning that magic and the curse is all real, and now you have to stay for a few days in a magical land, _plus_ needing to eat all this food you don't like. I understand, and _I'm_ sorry. For getting a little frustrated at you for not being just like me. But that doesn't mean you need to change for me, either. You were raised differently than I was."

David took a deep breath after letting all of that flow out. Emma gave a small smile at him and slowly picked up one of the berries from the basket and ate it. Instead of spitting it out right when she tasted the bitter taste of it, Emma waited for the real taste. To her surprise, it tasted good.

"How is it?" Snow asked. Emma saw that she was watching her facial expressions as she ate the berry.

"Actually, it's kind of good." She picked up another berry of the same kind and popped it in her mouth. Snow turned and winked at David. Emma just needed a chance to get used to this. All they needed was time.

After finishing up the basket of food and drinking enough water from the hose outside, David, Snow and Emma were all sitting on the couch, too tired to get up. Snow was almost sitting/laying on top of David, leaning against him, hands wrapped together, while Emma was sitting at the other end of the couch. They were all deep in thought.

"Mary Margaret?" Emma asked. It took Snow a second longer to realize who she meant.

"Yes?"

"So, I learned about David's parents, but I only learned a little about yours. What were they like? What happened to them?"

Snow sighed as David placed a small kiss on the side of her neck from behind. "My mother was a wonderful woman. She was a _good_ person. In fact, all she ever wanted was for me to be good. She was a great leader and a perfect mother. Like I mentioned before, when I was around 7 or 8, she became deathly ill, and no one knew what was wrong with her. I was even given something to heal her, but it was _dark_ magic. It replaced her dying life with someone else's healthy life, but I couldn't do it. It would be too cruel to kill someone innocent. My mother died when I was very young."

David stroked her hand with his thumb as she continued. "My father was also a good man and a good leader. He loved me very dearly. One day, a highly poisonous snake bit him and he died right there. Everyone told me it was his good friend he met recently, but deep down inside, I knew his friend was set up by Regina. I also knew it because that would be something she would do."

"You got that right," Emma mumbled in agreement. Then she spoke up. "So, how did she become so evil if she was such a good person in her younger years?"

"Rumplestiltskin," Snow said in an almost hateful tone. Emma made a face and Snow continued. "Regina told me one day how it all happened. Apparently, Rumplestiltskin also taught _Cora_ about dark magic, and Cora grew up _very_ poor. He told Regina how to get rid of her annoying mother because Cora always used spells on Regina. Once Regina made her own mother disappear to Wonderland, she went back to Rumplestiltskin and learned more, liking the feeling. From then on, she's been _horribly_ evil."

Emma nodded slowly in agreement, then started yawn. "So what happened after you guys got married?"

Snow looked at David who she was still laying against and shared a knowing smile. Then she answered. "Well, before I get to the part you don't really want to know the details of, I'll tell you of how I found out what you were going to be even before you were conceived."

"Yeah, um, let's not get to the scene where I was conceived. Please." Emma begged.

David smirked. "Snow, I think you can just skip the story of that night here, then."

Emma rolled her eyes as Snow continued. "_Anyway, _when we were traveling to the lake that day, Ruth showed me a necklace that could predict the sex of your unborn child."

"She showed you that before I did?" David interrupted.

"Shh." Snow quieted him like a schoolteacher would quiet the class, but she held up her index finger onto his lips. "I'm talking."

David smiled sweetly as she took her finger down and continued. "I used to remember which way meant what, but I completely forgot now. But if the pendant swings one way over their hand, it's a boy. If it swings the other way, it's a girl. When Ruth held it over my hand, it didn't swing, and that's when I had to tell her about what King George did."

David leaned closer into her ear and whispered, but loud enough for Emma to hear, "But the curse lifted. We have a beautiful daughter sitting right over there."

Emma heard him and she blushed, but also out of embarrassment. She had never heard anyone call her their daughter. It almost felt good to be apart of a real family, but she still wasn't used to it yet.

Snow smiled at him and nodded in agreement. "Yes, we do. Anyway, right after Ruth died, he held the same necklace over my hand, and I tried to explain that it wouldn't work, but when I looked down, it was swinging. Only I remembered the directions out of the both of us, so I told him it would be a surprise."

"You wouldn't tell me, no matter what." David complained.

Snow smiled again at him, "I know."

"It was a pain." He went on.

"I know." Snow turned towards him and kissed him on the cheek, then turned back to Emma. "So from there wasn't much. We locked up Regina and I put her through a test if she would still go at me, and she did, but that's after I got help from Rumplestiltskin. She could never hurt anyone in our kingdom ever again. This was way after we took back the kingdom, so we were about to get married publicly. When Charming and I got married at our castle, Regina came barging in right after we said our vows. She threatened us by describing the curse she would put us through eventually."

David kissed her softly on the side of her neck again as she went on. "Shortly after, I learned I was pregnant, with you," She smiled at Emma. "A few months later, I was so worried about the curse, so we went to Rumplestiltskin on more information, since he can see the future."

"How'd _that_ happen!?" Emma suddenly blurted out. "I never knew that!"

"I don't know that story, do you?" She turned to David, who shook his head. She continued. "Rumplestiltskin told us to protect you from the curse, so the Blue Fairy told us about a rare enchanted tree that could protect only one from the curse, so Geppeto built it as fast as he could, but by the time it was finally ready, I had suddenly gone into labor, which was unexpected. We had all planned to put me in the wardrobe with you still, but it was too late…"

David stroked her hand with his thumb again in reassurance. He was right there with her.

"I told Charming to take you to the wardrobe to protect you from the curse, so you could come back for us on your 28th birthday, but when he never came back after a while, I went into your nursery where the wardrobe was built, and I saw him on the floor, dead, covered in blood, and I just couldn't…"

Snow finally noticed she had tears silently flowing out of her eyes at the flashback. David unlinked their hands and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Shh," David calmed. "I'm here now. I'm right here. I'm alive; we're both alive. All of us are alive. It's been 28 years. The curse is broken. It's all okay. We're all safe."

It took Snow a few minutes to stop crying. "Thank you," She whispered to David.

"Well your love story is… action-filled." Emma said, wanting to change the subject. Snow laughed, despite her leftover tears, nodding in agreement.

"Yes it is." She agreed, turning to David, kissing him sweetly but chastely.

"I believe we are all tired," David announced after a little while of comfortably staying like that. Snow stood up so David could show them where to sleep. He stood up as well, Emma standing up also, following them into the small hallway. David entered a room. To Emma's surprise, it actually had a comfortable-looking bed in it, complete with covers and everything.

"Emma, this is your room tonight." David told her.

"Thank you," She said back, already walking towards the bed. "Looks comfortable."

"Good night, Emma." Snow said softly.

"Night." Emma sleepily replied, getting into the sheets.

David chuckled. "Night, Emma."

David closed her door as he and Snow walked further down the hall and entered another room.

Snow turned to him in the doorway and gave him a seductive smirk. "Now I remember our wedding night, Charming."

David took her hand and slowly pulled her with him towards the bed, but before they reached it, he pulled her into his arms, looking deep into her eyes, "I sure hope you do."

Before David could lock his lips with hers, Snow backed away teasingly. "Charming, I'm tired." Before David could stop her, she made her way to his bed and got in, pulling the covers up to her chin and closing her eyes.

"No way," He complained, watching her fake-sleep. "You are _not_ going to do that to me."

"Mm," Snow mumbled, eyes still closed. "And why not? I'm tired. We've been walking all day, and I need my beauty sleep."

"No you don't," David slowly fought for the covers from Snow's grip and finally got in the bed with her. He wrapped his arms around her. "You're already beautiful," He murmured.

Snow slightly opened her eyes and met his, smiling at him. "Stop being so charming, Charming."

This time, when David went in for a kiss, Snow didn't reject him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, deepening the kiss. David slowly rolled on top of her, but trying not to put his full weight on her. Their kiss grew more passionate and intense by the second, both of them wanting it to last.

David went lower onto her neck with kisses as she weaved her fingers through his hair. He then started leaving a trail of kisses up along her jaw and behind her ear to her sensitive spot.

"Charming," Snow moaned. She could feel him smile from behind her ear.

"Yes, my dear Snow?" He whispered into her ear. Snow wrapped her legs around his legs so they were entwined together as she lifted his face up to hers and kissed him with a more heated passion than before. David kissed her back with an equal fervor. He liked where this was going.

* * *

After a few minutes of their breaths going back to normal and regaining strength, sweat clinging to each other, David turned them both onto their sides, facing each other. Snow pulled the covers up over them until they were fully covered.

"Hello," Snow smiled at him. David kissed her forehead.

"Are you _really_ tired now?" He asked. Snow yawned as she nodded, snuggling up closer into his chest, about to fall asleep.

"Good night, Charming," She looked up at him as he looked down at her and kissed.

"Good night, Snow. I love you." David said sincerely as he got comfortable with her, wrapping his arms around her. They both fell asleep just like that.

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**A/N: If you only preferred the T rated version of this chapter and you see that there is another chapter after this, that is just the M rated version. Don't worry, I'm working very hard and very quickly :) Thank you!**


	9. 8: M VERSION Fresh from the Forest

_**THIS IS THE M RATED VERSION OF CHAPTER 8**_

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews! They help a ****_lot_**** and reviews tell me what you want to see more of. I realize what you want to read in this fanfiction. Most of it is what I already planned, but just reading your reviews confirms it. Also there were some that I hadn't thought of or forgot about in the show, so thank you for those as well. Every review counts! Please R&R.**

**I had to do both a T rated and M rated version of this chapter. THIS IS THE M RATED VERSION. The last chapter is the T rated version, so if you would rather read less detailed Snowing taco smut, go to the chapter before this, which is already posted. And the two version idea is NOT MY IDEA. I don't know who's idea it was originally, but where I saw it first was the great fanfiction author KayleeThePete in her fanfiction "Once Upon a Time... and Again". Just wanting to clear that up.**

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"_This _is where you used to live?!"

David, Snow and Emma were standing outside the small farm David used to call home. After walking about half an hour there from Ruth's burial, they were all definitely exhausted. It only felt like 3pm to them, but they couldn't tell. It was almost 6.

"Emma, remember? I told you I was poor. We didn't have enough money to take care of it. I don't know where all the sheep went." David let go of Snow's hand and walked up to the door, swiftly opening it wide open. He went in first, just in case anything came out from the shadows to scare them or some magical spell Regina put on the house before the curse to make sure whoever walked through that door would walk right back out. He called out to behind him, "All clear!"

Snow and Emma came in after him, looking around the small house. To David, it looked just like it did when he lived here. Same kitchen, same dining table and chairs, same vase his mother always told him not to touch as a young boy, even though there were no flowers in it. There was the same ragged sofa and chairs, same wooden coffee table. The only changes were pretty much just a few cobwebs in the corners or under the furniture, but that's it.

"Where's the TV?" Emma asked.

Snow fake-laughed at her, "Emma, honey, there was no TV or anything like that back then."

Emma slumped onto the sofa and watched all the dust fly up as she did. She looked up at her parents who were whispering into each other's ear, then both laughing and giggling at each other.

"David, how long ago was it when someone was last in here?"

He looked up from Snow to Emma and thought for a second. "A _really_ long time. 28 years ago."

Emma's eyebrows shot up. "28 _years?_ I'm sorry, I know that number has been famous around here and stuff, but I _lived_ through 28 years, I was not frozen in time, reliving the same day over and over again or in a coma. 28 years is a _very_ long time."

Snow chuckled, "We believe you. Yes, that is a very long time."

They all just stayed like that for the next 10 minutes: Emma sitting up straight on the sofa, refusing to touch any other part of the dusty thing; David and Snow wrapped in a half-embrace, looking all over the room. David finally remembered something.

"Snow," David whispered down into her ear. Emma looked up at the sudden small voice, but seeing how they were side by side and had an arm around each other and David leaning his head down to Snow's ear, they just looked like they were the most perfect couple she had ever seen. She decided to eavesdrop, but not look like she was listening.

"Remember the last time we were here?" He whispered. Emma heard that, but she then thought she didn't want to know the reason. She faced the uninteresting wall, still listening.

"Charming, I was only here once, and that was only outside. What do you mean? I thought we already told Emma about all that?" Snow whispered back, confused.

"Oh, that's right, you were blindfolded." David grinned. Emma made a face towards the wall.

A light bulb blinked on inside Snow's head. She grinned back at him, and then asked for confirmation. "Our wedding night?"

David nodded, going in to whisper something else but instead, kissing right behind her ear, where he knew was one of her sensitive spots.

"Mm," Snow moaned. "Charming, not here." She murmured as she looked over at Emma, who was fortunately staring at the opposite side of the room. The last thing she wanted Emma to see was her own mother getting turned on by her father.

To Emma, all she could hear was silence, and then a few occasional voices, so she took that as a "Do not look whatsoever".

They were standing by the front door still. Instead of backing away from her because of their daughter's presence in the room, David just left a trail of kisses down Snow's neck and to her collarbone next. Unexpected small moans left Snow's mouth. She wanted Charming all to herself again, more, oh just in that moment, but she _couldn't_. And she needed him to stop immediately, or else Emma would definitely be scarred for life.

"Charming, oh," Snow whispered as quietly as she could. "Stop it, or else I will be out of control."

"Mm," David whispered as he went to the other side of Snow's neck. "I'd like that."

"In front of our daughter!" She whispered but exclaimed as quietly as she could.

David finally pulled back, disappointed. "Fine. But we just might have to replay our wedding night tonight, hm?"

"Are we staying here for the night?" Snow asked, talking a little louder, but more like a mumble than a whisper. David stood in front of her, grabbing her elbows and pulling her in a little closer.

"Yeah, is that okay?" David asked, making sure.

"Fine by me." Snow agreed. David gave her one of his smiles that practically just melted her heart right there on the spot.

"You know, just you and me," David went into a whisper again. "Alone, tonight. Finally getting a chance alone, together. We haven't been alone together in over 28 years, as Snow White and Prince Charming I mean. I think we kind of deserve it."

Snow grinned at David and bit her bottom lip, staring into those sapphire-blue eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she rested her forehead on his, while David wrapped his arms around her and they stayed like that for a while. They fit together perfectly like a puzzle complete.

"Okay guys, my neck is cramping from pretending I'm interested in this wall. Anytime soon now!" Emma shouted after a few minutes of silence from across the room, waking both Snow and David from their gazes into each other's eyes. They pulled apart from each other and looked over at Emma who was watching them now.

"And thank you," Emma concluded.

"For what?" David asked, having no idea what they just did for her.

"For not going any further than neck nibbling. I felt like I was going to have to be interested at that wall for a _long_ time." Emma spoke like it was obvious.

Snow blushed from embarrassment. "You saw that?"

Emma smirked, standing up and walking over to them. "This house is pretty small, and there are more than just walls to look at. I have corners of my eyes as well, so yes, I saw that."

"Let's change the subject…" David interrupted when he saw things going in awkward directions.

"I'm hungry," Snow mentioned. "Are we just going to live off of wild berries and all that for now?"

David thought for a second. "I think so. At least I know of a really good area of bushes and trees nearby that have good edible berries and grapes that my mother and I always picked off of. If I'm correct, it should be ready to go in this time of season."

Emma groaned, complaining. "Do I have to go pick more berries? I gave up last time because I had no idea what to look for, and there were spiders and spiderwebs and all that nature-y stuff."

"Yes, but I'll teach you what to look for," David chuckled. "I had to go fetch for berries a lot when I was little for my mother, so I know exactly what to look for. I'll show you."

"Okay good, because I'm not letting you two alone in here by yourselves anymore." And she went out the door. David grabbed an old picnic basket from the kitchen where his mother used to store it for him to pick berries. Snow and David winked at each other, and then followed.

"Okay," Emma paused to wait for David and Snow to lead. "Where to, David?"

He and Snow caught up to Emma who was standing outside the farm.

"First," David took the lead into the forest, the rest following behind. "I'll show you where to look for grapes."

"Grapes?" Emma questioned. "As in the purple and green, good, juicy fruit? Is that actually _edible_ from the forest?"

David chuckled at her comment, still walking. He stopped in front of a tall tree. "Yes, and here is a grape tree. I forgot what it's officially called, but I just call it the Grape Tree."

Emma looked up, and sure enough, hidden beneath the leaves, she saw bundles of dark, purple grapes. And they were reachable, too.

David reached up and plucked about a dozen grapes from a branch and three extra. He gave one to Snow and one to Emma, and left one for himself. "Squeeze the juice into your mouth."

Emma stared at him. "You expect me to eat this without washing it or _anything?_"

Snow laughed. "Emma, that's why you squeeze it, not eat it." Then she showed Emma, and then turned to David. "This is good!"

David smiled, and then squeezed his grape into his mouth. Emma refused. "I am _not_ doing that. It's literally _fresh_ from the forest!"

Snow rolled her eyes. "Well, then what will you eat? Because fresh from the forest is all we have."

Emma pondered that. "Fine." She leaned her head back and slowly squeezed the grape into her mouth. Just as the juice hit her tongue, she dropped the grape and made a face. David and Snow laughed.

"You think this is funny?" Emma looked at them. "That stuff is _nasty!_"

Snow put a hand on her shoulder. "Emma, I think you don't like it because you're just not used to it. Charming and I had to live off of wild berries and grapes. Even me, because I was in the woods escaping from Regina for part of my life."

"Ew. I can't believe you guys had to eat this stuff." Emma looked up at the tree in disgust.

"Let's move on to the next plant. Berries."

"Fun." Emma mumbled as David led the way.

They got back to the house with a basket full of grapes, berries, and other wild foods when it was almost getting dark.

"I'm starving!" Snow said when they got inside.

"Me too, but I don't know what I'll be having since all of it is forest food." Emma griped.

David closed the front door behind everyone and found a match and dozens of candles.

"Emma, you need to eat something," He said, striking the match and lighting a few candles. Emma watched him silently. "This is all the food we have."

"Is this all the lighting we have as well?" She complained, seeing all the candles lit around the living room. David looked up at the lighting, and then continued lighting the rest.

"We had no electricity," Snow explained, taking a match and striking it against the box David was holding for her, and she helped light the rest of the candles as she talked. "No TV, no radio, no cell phones, and even no running water that we have today in Storybrooke."

"No running water?!" Emma exclaimed.

"Well I do have a washroom," David told her. "And there's a hose outside for hose showers. But that's only if you're _not_ afraid of spiders. Also, Daddy Longlegs are sometimes found on the sides of the house. Hopefully you aren't afraid of those either."

Emma turned to him, a frightened look on her face. "The last time I saw a Daddy Longleg was when I was at least 10 or 11, and even then, I was so scared that I didn't sleep for days."

"They don't hurt you," Snow said, not looking up. "Yes, they're poisonous, but their mouths are too small to bite."

"I know that," Emma said, matter-of-factly. "It was a long time ago that I saw one, so I don't know how I'll react…"

When all the candles were lit, Snow and David looked up. It was a little brighter, and good thing because it was getting darker.

"What time do you think it is?" Emma asked, sitting on the dusty sofa. She could see all the dust float up with all the light around her from the newly-lit candles.

Snow shrugged, sitting down next to Emma on the dusty couch. "I have no idea. There're no watches here either. David, is there some sort of clock around here?" She turned to him, who was now behind them, leaning forward against the back of the sofa. He looked around.

"No, sorry I don't think so. It might be around 7 or 8pm. When I was little, I made a huge sundial right outside, but it didn't last very long."

Emma nodded slowly, getting tired from their adventure. Her stomach growled. She hoped her parents didn't hear that, but too late. David walked over to the kitchen where he put the basket of food and brought it over to his family, setting it down on the coffee table in front of the couch. Emma removed her feet from the table as David sat next to Snow.

Emma made a look of disgust that Snow saw.

"Emma, you haven't tried any of the berries yet." She pointed out.

"What if I don't want to?" Emma said back. David took over.

"If you don't like it, fine, but at least try it! You'll never know if you'll like it or not if you don't try it."

Emma heard a hint of frustration in his voice, so she slowly picked a berry from the basket. Trying not to make him more frustrated, she calmly spoke. "Do I eat it without washing it?"

"Here," Snow put the berry Emma picked up back into the basket and picked it up off the table, calmly turning to David. "Charming, why don't you go outside to the hose and wash these?"

David stood up and grabbed the basket Snow was handing out to him and went out the front door. There was an awkward tension filling the room.

"I'm sorry he was acting like that," Snow broke the silence. "He's probably like that because all he's ever wanted was a child of his own that would grow up to be just like him. I remember him telling me that a lot back all those years ago. He wanted a son or a daughter who would always want to go out horseback riding or sword fighting or hunting, and who wasn't scared to eat wild berries with him."

Snow let Emma take all that in. She nodded slowly, now understanding. David wanted her to be a daddy's girl.

After a few minutes later of silence, David came back in from the front door with the basket of berries.

"Alright," David sounded calm again. "I washed the food. Emma, you don't have to eat anything tonight, but I highly recommend it. The hose outside is good to drink out of if you're thirsty."

He went over to the couch with Snow and Emma and set the basket in front of them as he sat down. He grabbed a handful of all sorts of berries they picked earlier and leaned back into the couch. Snow did the same. Emma looked up over at her father sitting beside Snow who was sitting beside her.

"David," Emma quietly spoke. David looked over at Emma as he popped a grape into his mouth. "I'm sorry I've been complaining today," She continued sincerely. "I'm just not used to being in the middle of all this nature, and needing to survive off of food from trees and bushes, and water from rivers and lakes. But I'll get used to it."

David smiled at Emma. "Hey, no, I should be the one apologizing. You're not used to this forest. I am. We all still need time adjusting being here, as a family. The curse just broke only a few days ago, and you're just now learning that magic and the curse is all real, and now you have to stay for a few days in a magical land, _plus_ needing to eat all this food you don't like. I understand, and _I'm_ sorry. For getting a little frustrated at you for not being just like me. But that doesn't mean you need to change for me, either. You were raised differently than I was."

David took a deep breath after letting all of that flow out. Emma gave a small smile at him and slowly picked up one of the berries from the basket and ate it. Instead of spitting it out right when she tasted the bitter taste of it, Emma waited for the real taste. To her surprise, it tasted good.

"How is it?" Snow asked. Emma saw that she was watching her facial expressions as she ate the berry.

"Actually, it's kind of good." She picked up another berry of the same kind and popped it in her mouth. Snow turned and winked at David. Emma just needed a chance to get used to this. All they needed was time.

After finishing up the basket of food and drinking enough water from the hose outside, David, Snow and Emma were all sitting on the couch, too tired to get up. Snow was almost sitting/laying on top of David, leaning against him, hands wrapped together, while Emma was sitting at the other end of the couch. They were all deep in thought.

"Mary Margaret?" Emma asked. It took Snow a second longer to realize who she meant.

"Yes?"

"So, I learned about David's parents, but I only learned a little about yours. What were they like? What happened to them?"

Snow sighed as David placed a small kiss on the side of her neck from behind. "My mother was a wonderful woman. She was a _good_ person. In fact, all she ever wanted was for me to be good. She was a great leader and a perfect mother. Like I mentioned before, when I was around 7 or 8, she became deathly ill, and no one knew what was wrong with her. I was even given something to heal her, but it was _dark_ magic. It replaced her dying life with someone else's healthy life, but I couldn't do it. It would be too cruel to kill someone innocent. My mother died when I was very young."

David stroked her hand with his thumb as she continued. "My father was also a good man and a good leader. He loved me very dearly. One day, a highly poisonous snake bit him and he died right there. Everyone told me it was his good friend he met recently, but deep down inside, I knew his friend was set up by Regina. I also knew it because that would be something she would do."

"You got that right," Emma mumbled in agreement. Then she spoke up. "So, how did she become so evil if she was such a good person in her younger years?"

"Rumplestiltskin," Snow said in an almost hateful tone. Emma made a face and Snow continued. "Regina told me one day how it all happened. Apparently, Rumplestiltskin also taught _Cora_ about dark magic, and Cora grew up _very_ poor. He told Regina how to get rid of her annoying mother because Cora always used spells on Regina. Once Regina made her own mother disappear to Wonderland, she went back to Rumplestiltskin and learned more, liking the feeling. From then on, she's been _horribly_ evil."

Emma nodded slowly in agreement, then started yawn. "So what happened after you guys got married?"

Snow looked at David who she was still laying against and shared a knowing smile. Then she answered. "Well, before I get to the part you don't really want to know the details of, I'll tell you of how I found out what you were going to be even before you were conceived."

"Yeah, um, let's not get to the scene where I was conceived. Please." Emma begged.

David smirked. "Snow, I think you can just skip the story of that night here, then."

Emma rolled her eyes as Snow continued. "_Anyway, _when we were traveling to the lake that day, Ruth showed me a necklace that could predict the sex of your unborn child."

"She showed you that before I did?" David interrupted.

"Shh." Snow quieted him like a schoolteacher would quiet the class, but she held up her index finger onto his lips. "I'm talking."

David smiled sweetly as she took her finger down and continued. "I used to remember which way meant what, but I completely forgot now. But if the pendant swings one way over their hand, it's a boy. If it swings the other way, it's a girl. When Ruth held it over my hand, it didn't swing, and that's when I had to tell her about what King George did."

David leaned closer into her ear and whispered, but loud enough for Emma to hear, "But the curse lifted. We have a beautiful daughter sitting right over there."

Emma heard him and she blushed, but also out of embarrassment. She had never heard anyone call her their daughter. It almost felt good to be apart of a real family, but she still wasn't used to it yet.

Snow smiled at him and nodded in agreement. "Yes, we do. Anyway, right after Ruth died, he held the same necklace over my hand, and I tried to explain that it wouldn't work, but when I looked down, it was swinging. Only I remembered the directions out of the both of us, so I told him it would be a surprise."

"You wouldn't tell me, no matter what." David complained.

Snow smiled again at him, "I know."

"It was a pain." He went on.

"I know." Snow turned towards him and kissed him on the cheek, then turned back to Emma. "So from there wasn't much. We locked up Regina and I put her through a test if she would still go at me, and she did, but that's after I got help from Rumplestiltskin. She could never hurt anyone in our kingdom ever again. This was way after we took back the kingdom, so we were about to get married publicly. When Charming and I got married at our castle, Regina came barging in right after we said our vows. She threatened us by describing the curse she would put us through eventually."

David kissed her softly on the side of her neck again as she went on. "Shortly after, I learned I was pregnant, with you," She smiled at Emma. "A few months later, I was so worried about the curse, so we went to Rumplestiltskin on more information, since he can see the future."

"How'd _that_ happen!?" Emma suddenly blurted out. "I never knew that!"

"I don't know that story, do you?" She turned to David, who shook his head. She continued. "Rumplestiltskin told us to protect you from the curse, so the Blue Fairy told us about a rare enchanted tree that could protect only one from the curse, so Geppeto built it as fast as he could, but by the time it was finally ready, I had suddenly gone into labor, which was unexpected. We had all planned to put me in the wardrobe with you still, but it was too late…"

David stroked her hand with his thumb again in reassurance. He was right there with her.

"I told Charming to take you to the wardrobe to protect you from the curse, so you could come back for us on your 28th birthday, but when he never came back after a while, I went into your nursery where the wardrobe was built, and I saw him on the floor, dead, covered in blood, and I just couldn't…"

Snow finally noticed she had tears silently flowing out of her eyes at the flashback. David unlinked their hands and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Shh," David calmed. "I'm here now. I'm right here. I'm alive; we're both alive. All of us are alive. It's been 28 years. The curse is broken. It's all okay. We're all safe."

It took Snow a few minutes to stop crying. "Thank you," She whispered to David.

"Well your love story is… action-filled." Emma said, wanting to change the subject. Snow laughed, despite her leftover tears, nodding in agreement.

"Yes it is." She agreed, turning to David, kissing him sweetly but chastely.

"I believe we are all tired," David announced after a little while of comfortably staying like that. Snow stood up so David could show them where to sleep. He stood up as well, Emma standing up also, following them into the small hallway. David entered a room. To Emma's surprise, it actually had a comfortable-looking bed in it, complete with covers and everything.

"Emma, this is your room tonight." David told her.

"Thank you," She said back, already walking towards the bed. "Looks comfortable."

"Good night, Emma." Snow said softly.

"Night." Emma sleepily replied, getting into the sheets.

David chuckled. "Night, Emma."

David closed her door as he and Snow walked further down the hall and entered another room.

Snow turned to him in the doorway and gave him a seductive smirk. "Now I remember our wedding night, Charming."

David took her hand and slowly pulled her with him towards the bed, but before they reached it, he pulled her into his arms, looking deep into her eyes, "I sure hope you do."

Before David could lock his lips with hers, Snow backed away teasingly. "Charming, I'm tired." Before David could stop her, she made her way to his bed and got in, pulling the covers up to her chin and closing her eyes.

"No way," He complained, watching her fake-sleep. "You are _not_ going to do that to me."

"Mm," Snow mumbled, eyes still closed. "And why not? I'm tired. We've been walking all day, and I need my beauty sleep."

"No you don't," David slowly fought for the covers from Snow's grip and finally got in the bed with her. He wrapped his arms around her. "You're already beautiful," He murmured.

Snow slightly opened her eyes and met his, smiling at him. "Stop being so charming, Charming."

This time, when David went in for a kiss, Snow didn't reject him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, deepening the kiss. David slowly rolled on top of her, but trying not to put his full weight on her. Their kiss grew more passionate and intense by the second, both of them wanting it to last.

David went lower onto her neck with kisses as she weaved her fingers through his hair. He then started leaving a trail of kisses up along her jaw and behind her ear to her sensitive spot.

"Charming," Snow moaned. She could feel him smile from behind her ear.

"Yes, my dear Snow?" He whispered into her ear. Snow wrapped her legs around his legs so they were entwined together as she lifted his face up to hers and kissed him with a more heated passion than before. David kissed her back with an equal fervor. They liked where this was going.

She slowly unbuttoned his shirt, moving her hand lower and lower on his bare chest along the trail of unbuttoned buttons. Once David's shirt was fully unbuttoned, she slipped his shirt off of him and drew her hands all over his now fully bare chest. She bit down on his bottom lip, and then lightly sucked on it, feeling bad if she caused his lip to bleed.

"Snow," David murmured into the kiss. He broke the kiss just for a short time as he gripped the hem of her shirt, lifting up slowly. After Snow's help, her shirt was off of her and he gazed down at her, drinking her in. His gaze made her breath catch a little. David leaned back down, but lower to her chest above her bra. Snow leaned forward as David tried to unhook her bra blindly while kissing the skin right above it.

After that next piece of clothing was in the pile of their shirts, David's mouth went even lower to her left breast while his hand caressed her right. Snow moaned, starting to arch into him, encouraging him to go on. Her breath was now growing heavily uneven. Apparently, David wanted to take his time, leisurely, so Snow found a new way to encourage him to carry on.

She reached down between them and found the bulge in his pants, stroking him through the cloth as his new moans joined hers.

"Snow," David growls, almost possessively, as his hands run across her stomach and back to her chest, stroking her body everywhere, back and forth, every inch. Then he sat up, straddling her. He reaches down on the top of Snow's pants and unbuttons them, sliding them off, her underwear following. Then he stands up beside the bed, his pants and underwear not far behind.

Snow watches him as he gets back on top of her, his lips going straight for her lips as he caresses her body; one hand on her breast, one hand caressing down, down, until-

Snow arches into him as he presses his thumb against her, his other thumb caressing her breast. Then he makes circle motions against her, making her build up. Snow was moaning more and more louder by the second. As he did that, he slipped two fingers inside her, making her buck into him, digging her fingers into the bed.

"Charming!" She shouted, but in a whisper, not wanting their daughter to hear them two rooms over. Instead of continuing, David lifted his hand away and put it on her other breast, their lips still in their own fervent embrace. While he does this, Snow sneaks her hand between them again and strokes him as he grows harder, gaining a moan from him as well, their moans joining together.

"Snow…" His hips grind up a little and he couldn't help it anymore. David suddenly sat up and straddled her again, raising both of her knees on his hips as he entered her slowly, kissing her passionately again. He lets Snow adjust to the feel of him, and then decides to set a teasing but pleasurably, leisurely pace. Snow's lips part, moaning into him at the pleasure, giving David the opportunity to brush his tongue against hers.

Finally, he decides to have a little fun. Pulling almost fully out of her, David paused, pulling their mouths apart. He gazed possessively and passionately down at Snow, and then with a force, he thrusts back into her, causing Snow to cry out.

She almost explodes right there. _Oh, the pleasure_, Snow thought. David did that a few more times, and then finally kissed her with all the love he had for her and all the passion mixed in as well, and started caressing one of her breasts with one hand, and the other hand one finger motioning in circles against her down there, all with his speedy thrusts in and out of her.

Snow dug her fingers on both sides of her into the bed as she quickly climaxed, bringing David along with her.

After a few minutes of their breaths going back to normal and regaining strength, sweat clinging to each other, David turned them both onto their sides, facing each other. Snow pulled the covers up over them until they were fully covered.

"Hello," Snow smiled at him. David kissed her forehead.

"Are you _really_ tired now?" He asked. Snow yawned as she nodded, snuggling up closer into his chest, about to fall asleep.

"Good night, Charming," She looked up at him as he looked down at her and kissed.

"Good night, Snow. I love you." David said sincerely as he got comfortable with her, wrapping his arms around her. They both fell asleep just like that.


	10. 9: First Family Drama

**A/N: Wow, that last chapter took a while to write, considering I can't write M rated that well as others can. Thank you to those who helped me decide how to publish that. I know I rated this fanfiction T, but it would only be that scene that was M rated, and plus, someone told me they would rather prefer T rated more than M rated, so that is why I did that. Also in my profile bio, I said I cannot write M rated, but I guess I can! Hm.**

**And I am SO sorry about the delay in updating! I had a phase of Writer's Block, and I finished the chapter at where it's finished now and will continue that scene in the next chapter because I think you deserve to finally read this chapter! Also, has any other Snowing fans (besides me) noticed many fanfictions taking too long to update?! I HATE when that happens, so here you are! Reviews are very much appreciated! Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of the characters in it.**

* * *

Henry.

How is Henry? What is he doing right now? Where is he at this moment?

Henry.

"Henry!" Emma suddenly shot up from the bed, woken up from her nightmare. She looked all around her, trying to figure out where she was. Small bedroom, sunlight shining in her eyes from the window, comfortable bed, lit candle beside her, and-

"David-?" Emma sleepily said to the man wearing an old robe, standing against the doorframe, watching her. He was holding a match.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," He smiled, once he saw she was awake. "Having bad dreams?"

David sat on the edge of her bed. Emma fully sat up in bed and finally realized where she was. She wasn't in Storybrooke. She wasn't even in Maine. No, she is at David's old home, way in another land. The Enchanted Forest. A land she used to think of something impossible; the land where she is actually from.

"Yeah, I think so. I think I forgot all of it now," She rubbed the sleepy out of her eyes. Then she looked over to the small table next to the bed. "What's the candle for?"

David looked over at the candle, then back at Emma. "Well, I heard you mumbling in your sleep from the living room, so I came to check on you. You started flipping over a lot and started mumbling 'Henry', so I assumed you were having nightmares."

"I was…" Emma sleepily mumbled, still confused why David just lit the candle beside her bed right before she woke up.

"Back all those years ago in the castle," David smiled at the memory. "When your mother was pregnant with you, she worried about the curse and what it would do to you and us, and she would always start screaming in the middle of the night, so I lit a candle right beside her. It would always take the bad dreams away."

"And it worked?" Emma questioned. David nodded.

"Well… thank you," Emma smiled. "It did kind of work. And I'm not surprised you heard me mumbling in my sleep all the way from the living room, because I now know these walls are definitely not soundproof." Emma gave David a look.

It took him a few seconds too long to realize what she just said.

"You… you heard that? Last night?" David started looking everywhere else but Emma, not interested in feeling comfortable making eye contact with his own daughter during this particular conversation.

"Yup." She said, straight to the point.

David decided to change the subject before things got more awkward. He looked back at Emma. "Well… this morning, I went to look for other trees and bushes for food that you might like, and I actually found an orange tree I never knew about. There's some, well, not-so-good homemade orange juice in the kitchen, along with some newly picked berries. They're the ones you like."

Emma smiled. "Thank you." She pulled the covers off of her and got up, stretching. David stood up and blew out the candle beside her bed, then left.

Emma walked out into the living room a few minutes later and found the basket of berries and a pitcher of orange juice on the coffee table. She turned around and found David and Snow in a corner in the kitchen, standing closely in front of each other, whispering. Snow was running her hand over his chest, even though he still had on his robe. Snow was still dressed in her clothes she came with. They both obviously didn't notice Emma standing in the living room, them being so lost into each other's eyes.

Emma rolled her eyes as she turned her attention from her parents back to the berries and sat down on the couch. When she opened the lid of the picnic basket, she found berries, grapes, and… oranges!

She looked back up into the kitchen, about to thank them for getting enough oranges to drink and eat as well, but she decided not to interrupt when she saw Snow and David pecking each other's mouths with small kisses, one after the other. With Snow smiling, Emma decided she would just wait, so she turned back to the food and grabbed the orange, starting to peel it.

After eventually getting the orange peeled and opened a few minutes later, Snow and David walked into the living room and sat on the couch next to Emma.

"Good morning Emma," Snow smiled.

"Morning," Emma replied, taking a slice of orange and eating it. It was surprisingly good, coming from the forest. "This is good… Thanks, David, for getting an extra one for me."

He chuckled. "I knew you would want something else besides the usual berries."

Emma nodded, agreeing. Then she noticed the orange juice. "Are there any glasses or… something?"

David got up from the couch and went into the kitchen, opening old cupboards that squeak as if they haven't been opened in 28 years. He found several dusty metal cups on a shelf and took down three, then closed the cabinets. Before he made his way back over to the couch, David quickly slipped out through the front door and washed the cups from the dust with the hose, and then went back inside.

"I'm not sure it's the best orange juice you've ever tasted," David said, bringing the cups over to them, handing one to Emma and one to Snow. He sat down next to Snow. "But at least it's juice."

Snow picked up the pitcher and poured Emma's cup first, just a little, and poured David's next, and then hers last. She held up her cup before taking a drink out of it, causing the rest to raise theirs up with her in a toast.

"Here's to how far we've made it since we got back to the Enchanted Forest!" They clinked cups and all three drank their juice.

Emma prepared herself for the sour taste, but it never came. It was actually pretty good.

"Not bad," Emma said, observing the juice. David grinned, taking another big gulp until his cup was empty.

"Thank you," David then looked over at Snow. "How is it?"

"Interesting," She set her cup down on the table in front of them. "But it's good."

After the three finished the berries and fruits and juice, they just sat there, not knowing what to do next. David spoke up.

"I believe it's a half a day's time to the castle from here. If we hit the road now, we'll probably make it before it gets dark. Emma slept a little later than planned."

Emma looked across Snow over at David. "What time do you think I woke up?"

"Eleven or twelve-ish," David replied, standing up. "We all need showers before we go, however, so who wants to take the hose first?"

"What?!" Emma exclaimed. "Do I really have to go outside where all the nature can see me naked and take a shower with only a hose and no covering?!"

"Emma," David said calmly, sitting back down, seeing this going into a long conversation. "I always used to clip up blankets around on the clothesline so no one could see, but since we're pretty much the only ones in the Enchanted Forest here in this area, I don't think it would matter. Snow and I would stay inside so you could have your privacy. But no matter what, we all need some sort of shower before we leave."

Emma groaned, "Still, it's just… I mean, you're outside, wearing NOTHING. It doesn't matter if you're protected by hanging blankets or even invisible, it's still just weird."

David chuckled at her comment. "Well it's either that or smelling like a skunk the whole time we're here, because I don't know when we're going back to Storybrooke."

Emma sighed, "Fine. But I'm not the one who goes first," then she caught Snow and David next to each other, looking at each other and communicating with their eyes. "And you both are taking separate hose showers. I heard you both last night, and I do _not_ want a repeat of that."

Snow's face went from white as snow to red as an apple and looked down, not wanting to talk to her daughter about her mother and father's sex life. David fidgeted with his fingers, also looking down. Then he looked back up.

"I'll take the hose first. And Emma," He stood back up and looked at her. "I'll warn you if there are any Daddy Longlegs left, but I doubt they're still there."

"Thank you," Emma replied sincerely. David turned around and walked into the hallway, getting several blankets and his clothes from the last few days. He was still in his robe.

Emma looked at Snow, who was sitting beside her. "Am I being too childish?"

Snow laughed. "No, you aren't being childish. We don't expect you to adapt to all of this immediately."

Emma smiled. She never really expected to grow a little closer to Mary Margaret than she expected. She still didn't want to be really close to her, since that would mean opening up and taking her walls down. It was just… weird to know someone so personal to call them "Mom" or "Dad". She wasn't feeling it yet. She wanted to, but she just wasn't. It was hard to explain.

David walked out of the hall and towards the front door. Right before opening the front door, he turned towards the girls sitting on the couch. "I'll be done in less than two minutes, so don't have a party without me." And he left.

* * *

Henry rested his face in one hand and slowly stirred his homemade chicken noodle soup with the other, his thoughts clearly somewhere else than there. His face looked gloomy and tired as he was sitting on one of the stools at the counter of the crowded diner. Suddenly, he felt a hand land calmly on his shoulder that woke him from his daze. He turned around and saw that it was only Granny, checking on him.

"You miss them, don't you?" She asked.

"Of course I do," Henry mumbled, facing his soup again. What kind of question is that? He definitely misses them more than anything. And what is not fair at all is that his own mother, who was formerly a non-believer not even a week ago, is now probably having a swordfight with Prince Charming, or aiming bow-and-arrows with Snow White. She is probably having the time of her life spending the time she has with her parents finally finding them after all, riding horses through the castle gates at noon and beating her parents to the "finish line" for lunch. Nice meals in a huge dining room in the castle, nice soft beds made for kings and queens, and being the princess she never got to be. Of course he was happy for her, but he just wished he were there with them.

"You know, Henry," Granny went around and behind the counter, facing him. "They will come back, you know."

"I know they will," Henry looked up from his soup. "I have faith in them. I know that land still exists."

Granny smiled at his grandfather's faith in him. Even though his family is trapped in a world where no one knows still exists, he knows it does. He knows his mom and grandparents are alive, because he has his grandfather's faith.

"I know they will come back," Granny encouraged. "Trust me, if it's your grandparents we're talking about, they will always find their way back."

Henry nodded with a big grin. It was so cool that he was talking to Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, who also knew Snow White very well as if she was her grandmother also.

Granny winked at Henry and went back to work. As she slipped through the kitchen door to give the cooks the order she was holding, a wide grin grew on Henry's face. Emma, Snow White and Prince Charming were alive!

* * *

"Emma, I promise you, there is no one around here besides Snow and me."

She wouldn't budge.

David has been standing up in front of the couch after Snow got her hose-shower for at least ten minutes, trying to persuade Emma to take a hose-shower. Emma and Snow were sitting on the couch, and Emma still wasn't liking the idea of showering outside in the middle of the day with nothing on. It wasn't even a bathing suit shower!

"Well, I guess I'm not taking a shower then, am I?" Emma backtalked. Snow looked up at the pain growing on David's face.

_So, this is what Snow meant when she told me she wasn't ready to be a mother_, David thought. He looked back at Snow, who was sitting next to Emma. He needed help. He didn't know what to do either.

"Emma," Snow turned to her calmly. "There are blankets hanging on ropes and wires and clotheslines outside all around the hose area. No one will see you, not even us."

Emma rolled her eyes. Her parents would not let her go without going through this torture, would they?

"Well," Emma thought of an excuse. "What's the point in taking a shower if we're just going to go right back out for a whole other day? And plus, we get right back in our dirty clothes anyway, right?"

David sighed. It was probably going to be a long time before they start heading towards the castle again. "Right, yes, you have a point there, but just please take a shower!"

"David, I am a 28 year old grown woman! You can't tell me what to do!" Emma snapped. "In fact, you didn't even raise me! You are only my parents because I'm related to you, but _neither_ of you have _ever_ taken care of me, so you have no control over what I do! I make my own choices, not my parents who gave me up just for some stupid curse! Actually, I don't even think of either one of you as my parents!"

Snow's eyes widened. Emma finally realized what just came out of her mouth, but before she could take it back, David opened his mouth.

"Fine! Don't take a shower! You're right; who am I to tell my 28 year old daughter what to do!?"

That was the first time he had ever addressed Emma as his very own daughter. It got to Emma deep inside, but she didn't want it to be this way. Besides, their first fight between father and daughter was over a pretty stupid topic.

She stood up and pushed past David and out the front door, leaving Snow and David in the living room staring at each other.

"Charming," Snow started, looking up into his eyes. "Was that our very first fight with our daughter?"

David nodded, sitting down on the couch next to Snow. She grabbed his hands and turned to him. "Hey, you did the right thing. It's what all parents do, right?"

"I- I guess so..." David said. He watched tears form in Snow's eyes right in front of him. Then she fell apart, leaning into David's chest.

"Oh, who am I kidding!? Charming..." Snow sobbed.

"Shh..." David soothed, though feeling his own eyes watering.

"She doubted us," Snow whispered into his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Emma... she doubts us... she- she blames us for not being there for- for her..."

"Shh..."

"She said we weren't her parents..."

"Snow, it's alright," He picked her head up from his chest and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "She probably didn't even mean it out of the anger that suddenly busted out. It's my fault for making her do something she's not comfortable with, and she just now found out we are her mother and father."

"Charming-" Snow started, but David leaned in and kissed her lovingly, putting all his care into it. She melted into his arms, kissing him back with passion.

"I love you," David murmured against her lips.

Snow smiled against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you too, Charming."

She just loves how Charming can make her happy again with just a touch of his lips onto hers.

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry I had to put you Charming Family shippers through this, but TRUST ME, it WILL get better! Don't give up! They will be a true family ****_eventually_****, but who said there were bright, colorful rainbows without a little dark, grey thunderstorm? Reviews, PMs, and questions are ALWAYS 27/4 appreciated!**


	11. 10: The Present

What had she just done? Of course she didn't mean to say that. They want to be her parents more than anything, and they want to make it up to her, but what does she do in return? She backtalks to David - she will _still_ not call them Mom and Dad. It's just insane calling people the same age as you your parents - and tells him and Snow that they don't deserve to be her parents. How can she face them now?

She has to face them eventually, because they're all the only three here since the curse struck decades ago.

Great.

Emma was deep in thought as she made her way around the outside of the house and found the hose. It was laying down on the ground in the middle of a big circle of blankets being hung from the above wires. The blankets were layered and dark enough for the person inside to be hidden from the outside world, and were tall enough for them to not even be seen.

When David came in from his hose shower (which seemed like an hour ago, but it was only 15 minutes ago), he had informed her that there were no Daddy Longlegs whatsoever along _any_ part of the house. He was right; there wasn't even a single clump of them.

She went to the knob of the hose and turned it to the left, hearing the water come out of the mouth of the hose.

Her eyes wandering everywhere around her, checking for any strangers or bystanders, she carefully lifted one of the blankets and squeezed inside the - rather large - circle of privacy.

_Not bad_, Emma thought.

* * *

Five minutes later, Emma set the hose down on the ground as the water sprayed the dirt at her feet. She had a well, thought-out apology set for her speech for right when she walks inside. She didn't even want to give them trouble over a stupid hose, and there wasn't anything to forgive them of. David had the right to shout at her when she backtalked.

After she got fully dressed in the same clothes she's been wearing this whole trip, she hung the blanket back up on the wire where she took it down to dry herself off.

She was nervous. Yes, she planned on what to say, but Emma didn't feel comfortable apologizing to David and Mary Margaret about something so stupid like arguing over a hose shower, but she had to eventually.

Carefully opening the door, she peeked in through the crack just to see Snow laying on David on the couch, attacking each other's lips. At the noise, they suddenly untangled themselves from each other and looked up from where they were laying on the couch.

Caught again.

Big surprise.

Emma opened the door wider and stormed into the kitchen, looking for something. She noticed it wasn't on the coffee table anymore, so David probably put it up. David and Snow watched silently.

"Emma-" David started carefully, sitting him and Snow up into a sitting position.

"To hell with it! Let's go," Emma said to them as she stormed back outside the front door with the picnic basket. It was going to take a lot more courage to talk to them. She wasn't ready.

Snow and David looked back at each other. Snow got up from sitting on half of David's lap and held out her hand, pulling him up from the couch.

He saw the hurt appear on her face again. For the last 10 minutes, he had finally cheered her up, and kept her happy, but now that Emma returned, the hurt was back, and he did _not_ like when Snow was hurt. Automatically, he gathered her into his arms into a snug embrace.

"We were doing so great earlier this morning," Snow murmured into his shoulder. She hadn't reached the point to tears again, and he did not want her to.

"I know, but we're going to be that way again," He soothed. They slowly broke apart, not really wanting to leave this place again. David put his hands on her arms as they just stood there. He leaned in slowly and placed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. When he pulled away, he saw that a smile had appeared on her face. He smiled back, reassuringly.

"I sure hope so," Snow said quietly.

David changed the subject. "I'm glad she didn't walk in a few minutes later than she did, or else she would _definitely_ not be happy with us for scarring her for life."

Snow laughed, gently punching him in the shoulder. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

Wanting to continue what was going on on the couch, David tried to deepen the kiss, but once Snow realized (finally) what he was doing, she stepped back with a smile, her hand pushing him slowly away.

"Oh, Charming," She chuckled. "Our moody daughter is waiting outside for us. We don't want to keep her waiting, now would we?"

David sighed. "No, I guess not," A grin grew on his face unexpectedly, leaning his forehead against hers. "But she doesn't have to wait _that_ long."

Snow's smile widened as she quickly pecked his lips, not taking her forehead off his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pecking his lips again. And again. And again. The pecks soon turned into a passionate, leisurely kiss. They didn't want to leave his house again. The last time they stayed here, they definitely did not want to leave. They sure did enjoy that time together on their wedding night.

* * *

About 10 minutes of sitting on the small porch steps outside the house, boredly waiting, Emma finally heard the front door open behind her. She got up and started walking away from the house, still not comfortable facing her parents.

David put an arm around Snow's shoulders as they watched their daughter lead the way away from his house. He kissed her cheek, and then they started to follow Emma. A few steps away from the house itself, David turned around, grabbing Snow's hand. He watched the house carefully.

His childhood was here. His old home. This is where he spent his entire life, living, before that little imp showed up and flipped his life over. But if that hadn't happened, he wouldn't be standing in front of his house at this very moment with his very beautiful wife and moody - but wonderful - daughter.

He now has only shared his house with Snow just three times: the first time wasn't really inside, but Snow was outside of his house, and that is where she first met his mother.

The second time was right after their wedding, but right after his mother died. Lancelot told them to go back to his house and spend the night, just the two of them. He remembers how he told Snow to stay put while he blindfolded her, and then led her to his house and to his bedroom. Before he blindfolded her, he quickly disappeared and found many red roses to trail to the bed and over it. He remembers Snow's expression on her face when he took the blindfold off from behind. It was their first time, even for the both of them, but they would never forget that.

The third time here together was right now. With their daughter, Emma. How they got here in the first place was _definitely_ a complicated story. It didn't just go from meeting each other, courting, marrying, conceiving, and having a family right here at his home. No, it went all over the place. They met, they were separated; they met again, they were separated again. There was escaping, fighting, doubting, violence (yes, getting hit with a rock by his beautiful wife was very painful), and _finally_ battling a dragon to get to his true love, who, of course, was asleep with a sleeping curse. Then their wedding (their first one, that is) wasn't the wedding they had expected, their only audience being his own mother, but it was worth it. Their daughter was conceived in his former home, they moved into a castle, only to be separated (_again_) by a dark, powerful curse, being transported (barely alive) all the way to town called Storybrooke in a state called Maine, where they walk around blind with completely different identities, until his own daughter comes driving in and breaks the curse, and that same day, they're transported back to their land (not the way they expected to be transported), and here they are, in the middle of a fight with their daughter, standing and watching his old house with Snow.

It definitely did not go just like meeting each other, courting, marrying, conceiving, and having a family right here at his home. Not like that at all.

David turned around and followed Emma, with Snow right beside him. She squeezed his hand in reassurance, looking up at him. He was clearly focused on his daughter ahead of him, leading the way along the forest trail, but he could feel her gaze on him. He squeezed her hand back.

Right. The past is behind them, back at his home; their future is ahead of them, inside their castle and through the wardrobe, back to Storybrooke. But he wouldn't mind bringing _everyone_ back to the kingdom, and things going back to how they were before the curse. He wouldn't mind at all.

He just needs to focus on the present. On his family. His daughter. His wife. Himself. The castle. Their home.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry updating is taking a while again! A lot of Writer's Block going on, but it won't last very long. I have many surprises in store :) thanks for reading! I have summer school stuff again this week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays), so I won't be able to update during the day. Don't be afraid to request something that happens! REVIEWS HELP.**

**Oh, and if anyone was confused when I sometimes mention Snow as Mary Margaret, I do that because Emma still thinks of her as Mary Margaret, not Snow. David (Charming) is... well... David (Storybrooke)... I don't want to call him Charming throughout the story, because it's just like some stranger calling someone by their nickname someone else gave them... you know?**


	12. 11: Perfectly Content

It was silent.

Too silent.

It was a different silence than when they were traveling yesterday.

Snow and David didn't like it. This isn't how they envisioned their family to be when they went somewhere together, or when they went on a family hike or vacation.

Emma was still ahead of them, and has been ever since they left a few hours ago. Even when they stopped to rest to keep their feet from falling off, Emma didn't say a single word to them. She didn't even look at them.

"Do you think she'll ever talk to us again?" Snow whispered one time when they were back on their feet. They were out of earshot from Emma because she was so far ahead of them, but she wasn't out of their sight.

David gave Snow's hand a small squeeze, which he had been holding all day. "Of course she will, but like we've been discussing this whole trip, all she needs right now is time. I don't know the reason why she's been avoiding us all day, but I don't think she meant any of those words she said. I think she's not making any contact with us right now because she feels horrible about talking to us like we don't matter to her."

Snow nodded, understanding.

It grew dark quickly, and they were close to the castle, but not that close to wait until they got there. Snow recognized immediately where they were, and not just because they were close to her "lonely corner of solitude", as David had put it all those years ago, but because they were very close to the troll bridge. This was the path Snow took to go back into the forest. About a few minutes from here is where they had to go back to their lives after getting the jewels back from the trolls. To get to the castle, they had to go the way David walked all those years ago, down that path that exited out of that part of the forest and into the kingdom to the castle.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Snow recognized the trail immediately. Maybe David didn't, but only because it was now twilight.

Unexpectedly, Emma went over to a tree and sat down against it, tired from walking. David and Snow picked another tree and sat down against it, still holding each other's hand, taking in the scenery with the little light they had left.

"Do you know where we are?" David suddenly whispered into Snow's ear. It wasn't a casual whisper, but it sounded more like a playful whisper. His mouth softly grazed over her ear as he spoke, so quietly that Emma couldn't have possibly even known he said anything. He stroked her hand softly with his thumb.

Snow turned to him, smiling. Their mouths were barely inches apart, and oh how she wanted to kiss that romantic smile off his face, but Emma was probably watching them (which, she was, through the darkness) while they were too interested in each other to notice. "Yes, Charming. I know exactly where we are."

He carefully pecked Snow with a chaste kiss on the lips, and then continued. "Mm, I also know that this is where you, a little teaser, stole my ring _again_ and tried it on, right in front me, a taken man."

She held up the back of her right hand in front of his face, letting him perfectly see the green jewel somehow slightly sparkling on her middle finger in the little moonlight they had. "You mean this?"

That ring had gone a long way. It had gone down from his ancestors, to trolls, to his true love's hand, back to him, and to his true love's hand again, making her his wife. It even survived the curse, somehow staying on her. Not the same hand, maybe, but it never left his true love. Besides, the ring does follow true love, no matter what, right?

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, and then wrapped his fingers into hers. She smiled sweetly, pecking him back with another short kiss.

They almost fell asleep like that, Snow and David leaning shoulder to shoulder against a tree, hands wrapped in their own warm embrace. Before they could get any sleep, Snow looked up from David's shoulder and over at Emma.

Or, at least, where she thought Emma was.

She wasn't there.

"Charming," Snow whispered. He opened his eyes to his wife staring at him. "Emma's not here."

David sat up, looking over at the other tree where Emma was. Sure enough, the space was empty. He looked back at a worried Snow and leaned back against the tree, pulling her against his chest. She laid her head on his shoulder, sprawled over him, her face towards his neck.

"She probably just went to go take a walk," David pressed a kiss into her hair, reassuringly. She angled her face up a little to kiss his jaw softly.

"I guess you're right," Snow whispered, both closing their eyes at the comfort they were in.

All of a sudden, a giant, thunderous _roar_ echoed through the trees, sending Snow and David out of their peace and quiet. The two abruptly stood up, alert, each grabbing their weapons, which were next to them on the ground against the trunk of their tree.

They raced into the forest, trying to find the source of the chaos that was shaking the forest floor. Searching and panning the whole area for Emma possibly hurt or on the ground, they found nothing but noise. It was still echoing around them, so they couldn't figure which direction it was coming from.

Finally, finding a clear path of forest, Snow saw Emma on the ground, terrified, but a big huge clump was kneeling over her. It did _not_ look human whatsoever, but she couldn't tell what the alien-like creature was with no light and little moonlight to help.

Ogres. Lancelot had warned them about ogres.

_Emma, what have you gotten yourself into_, Snow thought.

Snow stepped into the clearing behind the ogre, but not too close. David was about to stop her, but she got too far for her to hear him over the sound of the ogre, and he didn't want to shout, because that would let the ogre notice Snow.

"STEP AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" Snow yelled as loud as she could over at the ogre.

The ogre stopped making the ear-busting noise and paused, getting up and making its way to Snow.

"Mary Margaret, NO!" Emma screamed, but she didn't want to get in front of the ogre again. All this heroism in her family apparently skipped a generation, and she did not understand sacrifice yet.

Before David or Emma could act, Snow pulled an arrow from behind her back and aimed at the ogre, which was now almost able to pick her up. Right as it reached down, she shot the arrow right into its eye, sending it down with a large, loud _thump_. Emma stared in awe at her mother, who just practically saved her life.

Snow made her way over to Emma, who was staring in awe with her mouth open. Snow acted like it was nothing, and David the same as he made his way to them.

"Are you alright?" Snow asked, concerned. She put a hand on Emma's shoulder.

Emma nodded, and then found her voice again. "Y-yeah... thanks."

Snow smiled softly. "You're welcome. Now come on, we all need rest. We can see the castle from where we were, so that's how close we are, but we definitely need sleep more than anything."

Emma nodded again, but as Snow and David turned around to start heading back, she spoke up. "Wait."

They stopped and slowly turned around. Emma walked over to them.

"David, Mary Margaret... I am _so_ sorry for saying those things to you earlier, and it doesn't make it any better that I've avoided you guys all day since then. It was so stupid for me to fight over taking a shower outside, but I _never_ meant those words. I couldn't face you guys because I didn't know if you hated me then or what, but... I am so sorry. Yes, you are my parents, and you _do_ deserve to be."

By now, Snow's eyes were flowing with tears, and David's eyes were just now starting to glisten.

"Oh, Emma," Snow started, but she thought best of it and gathered Emma in a very tight hug, never wanting to let go of her daughter. "No matter what, we could _never_ hate you!"

As they broke apart, Emma faced a now-crying David. He suddenly embraced her with the same force as Snow. His daughter, his very own daughter, actually thought he hated her for the words she said. He could _never_ hate his own daughter. Never, ever, ever. Not even if it was a deal he absolutely _had_ to make with Rumplestiltskin.

And she just now called them her parents. Her _parents_. He knew it was true, but when it's being said by his own child, it makes it even more real than he could have imagined. He - David, a shepherd who went through so much - was a parent. A father. A dad. And the mother - a princess turned bandit - is Snow White. It was so surreal to him.

They headed back towards the original trail and to their own trees. Snow and David went back to the position they were in before they heard the ogre - David slumped against a tree with Snow laying against his chest, her hand over his heart, her face into his neck. They didn't close their eyes, though. Emma was watching them again, but more closely.

David picked up Snow's right hand and, very slowly, slid his ring off of her middle finger. He held it up very close to his face, examining it carefully. She looked up at what he was doing.

"I do believe this is not where it's supposed to be," David said, looking back down at her. He carefully picked up Snow's left hand, but he slipped his fingers through hers, gazing into her eyes. "Snow White, I know we are already legally married in this land, the Enchanted Forest, but I want to proclaim to the world that you are mine. So here we are, in the very same area we were all those years ago when you tried this very same ring on for yourself, so I want to ask you this: Will you marry me...? Again?"

Snow chuckled at his sweet, romantic speech, and leaned up to kiss him on the lips. It wasn't chaste, but it wasn't a big, passionate kiss either. It was more of a leisurely, loving kiss. "Charming," She whispered when they broke apart. She looked right into his sapphire-blue eyes. "What do you think?"

They both grinned at the familiar line. He pulled his hand out of her left one, but only to gently slide his ring onto her ring finger, where it was originally before the curse. Snow looked down at her left hand and his hand only inches apart, so she reached for his hand and wrapped her fingers around his. She leaned back up and kissed David into a longer leisurely kiss than last time.

"I love you," Snow murmured against his didn't break apart for a while.

From the other tree, Emma smiled at the true love her parents were sharing. She used to think of it as weird or disgusting, but she doesn't anymore. Their love is definitely inseparable.

The Charmings fell asleep right there, all perfectly content. Emma had her parents back. David was softly embracing his wife. Snow was in her husband's arms. They were going to get married. Again.

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**A/N: Woo hoo! I'm back on a roll here! But I sacrificed half of my sleep for you guys, so you are so welcome! I LOVE seeing your reviews and how you tell me to update soon, because that encourages me to start continuing right away :) I have summer school today, however, so I can't update during the day, but I might tonight.**

**Remember how I said I have surprises in store? That was definitely a surprise, wasn't it? Well, trust me, there's more that you would ****_NEVER_**** expect happening. Please review! Tell me things you would like to see more of: Snowing, family, maybe a little Hook (and all the SwanCaptain shippers clap), tacos (and all the Snowing shippers clap *claps*), maybe some extended time at the castle, sword fighting, horseback riding, archery, hunting, hiking, bonding, storytime, touring, YOU NAME IT. Just tell me what you want to see and I'll reply. Maybe I might already have some of that planned.**


	13. 12: What Does This Mean?

**A/N: Wow. I am SO sorry for making you wait until today. I planned for this update to be quick to satisfy my wonderful readers in the beginning of the week, but writer's block got me BAD.**

**A few mornings ago, on the radio on my way to school, this is what I heard:**

**"It is now official: The king is now a father!" Something like that. The first thing that popped in my head was Charming.**

**I swear, I am obsessed.**

**Please R&R! I am so inspired and encouraged by your reviews. Keep them coming! Thank you!**

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"Snow," David practically shouted, standing over her to wake her up.

Snow groaned in protest, waking up out of her dreams. "Why now?" She forced her eyes to open, which didn't stay that way for long. They shut again.

"Because," He slowly knelt down over her, both knees on each side, straddling her. He whispered, "If my beautiful wife doesn't wake up right now, she will have to be punished."

She barely squinted an eye open to see David grinning down at her. Punished? She wouldn't mind being punished, especially if it was him punishing her.

Her eye fell shut after staying open for too long. "Mm, what does Charming have in mind for me if I'm a bad girl?"

It went silent. Emma was wandering around behind them in the forest, collecting berries and other sorts of fruits she could find. Even though she wasn't near enough to watch, she was pretty sure she should stay her distance until it was safe to return. Besides, with the silence finally floating around her, she didn't know _what_ they were doing, and she didn't want to find out either. She rolled her eyes at the thought as she picked a few berries off a bush in front of her.

But the silence that screamed at them, just him staring at her almost-sleeping form, only remained for about half a minute until David's hands roamed to Snow's sides. He moved his fingers across her sides and stomach as a laugh bursted out of her. He kept tickling her as she screamed and laughed, his fingers dancing all over her stomach.

"Charming!" Snow begged, laughing so hard. Her eyes were finally wide open, but forced. "Char- Charming, stop!"

He grinned, adding his other hand to the other side of her stomach. "What's the magic word?" He asked in a sing-songy voice.

Snow could barely answer with her laughter filling the forest around them, but she tried her best. "Charming, stop! _Please_! I- I surrender!"

With a few extra seconds added for him, David took his hands off her, leaning back up. "Now are you awake, princess?"

Remembering the nickname he used on her before they were married their second time in the castle, she grinned up at him, linking her hands behind his neck and pulling his mouth down to hers. Their lips locked leisurely, but it turned instantly to passionate once he deepened the kiss. Their tongues dueled to be inside each other's mouths.

"Yes, I am now," She murmured into his mouth once she got the small chance to catch her breath. But with the intensity, it didn't look like there would be anymore chances.

"Snow," David whispered, eventually pulling apart from her after a couple minutes later of a very fervent kiss. She stole an extra kiss from him when he paused. Oh, how he really wanted to carry this further. "Snow, we have to stop."

"What if I don't want to?" She stole another kiss again, neither wanting to stop.

He cupped her cheek with one hand and did a sort of half push-up, still straddling her on his knees, down to her lips, stealing another kiss. "Well, if we don't, who knows what Emma would walk into?"

"What about Emma?" They heard from the forest. David looked up and saw Emma looking down at them, rolling her eyes. She walked away with a full-looking basket to her tree beside theirs. David rolled off of Snow and to the side, letting Snow lean up too.

_Cling_.

"Good morning, Emma," She said, leaning against the tree.

"Morning," She replied, opening the picnic basket to all the berries inside. "I got a lot of food, so there's plenty for all of us."

David stood up, going over to Emma and the basket.

_Cling_.

Snow definitely heard it that time. She heard it the first time coming from David when he rolled off of her, but she ignored it, thinking it was her imagination. Now she knows that it's definitely not her imagination. David ignored the metal noise, she noticed.

A small rumble came from David, and she heard it that time for sure, but it wasn't the same sound.

"Sorry, I'm really hungry right now," David announced, grabbing an orange from the basket. He walked back to Snow and sat down beside her against the tree.

_Cling_.

Snow looked at him at the sound, which sounded like it was coming from him. He seemed like it was just something natural, because he wasn't responding to it like she was. "Charming..."

He looked up at her, still peeling his orange without looking down at it. "Hm?"

"What was that noise?"

David looked all around him, suddenly alert. But there was nothing. He hadn't heard the specific noise yet.

"Snow, it's nothing. We're the only ones here in this particular area. I doubt Regina's soldiers are out to get us."

They heard Emma try to stifle a laugh over where she was, but no luck to her. She looked up from her orange with a grin on her face. "That seems just like Regina."

Snow smiled at her daughter. Yes, that _definitely_ sounds like Regina. But she trusts David, so she turned back to him. "I suppose we are the only ones here, but then what was that noise I kept hearing?"

"I haven't heard anything," He said, popping a piece of orange into his mouth. Snow reached down towards his lap and peeled another slice from the fruit in his hand, popping it into her mouth like it was no big deal. Then something came to David's mind. He knew _exactly_ what she was talking about. "Did you hear it when I was moving?"

Snow nodded, knowing something was up. He grinned, picking a small area at the top of his shirt, trying to grasp something inside, and shaking it. They both heard the _cling_ again. It almost sounded like a chain. A necklace chain.

Snow finally realized there was a necklace chain on the back of his neck, going into the front of his shirt from around. She carefully reached around his neck with both hands on each side and hooked a finger underneath the chain on the back of his neck. She trailed her fingers, each hand on both sides of his neck, around his neck, keeping the chain hooked on her index fingers, bringing her fingers around to the front of his neck, dragging the rest of the chain out of his shirt. All this time, David was staring right into Snow's eyes, hers staring back at his.

She sucked in a breath as she pulled out the rest of the chain. It felt heavy at the end, so there was definitely something on the end of it. Finally, she forced her eyes from David's and looked down at the pendant that had just slipped out from the top of his shirt. The chain was still around his neck.

She gasped, and he grinned, seeing her reaction. Snow was holding a heavy, circular pendant, outlined boldly with a beautiful pattern. In the very center was a dove.

By this time, Emma made her way over to them, standing over them and looking at what she was holding in her palm. Gracefully, Snow dragged her finger over the dove, and then looked up at David.

"Charming," Snow whispered, though Emma could hear. "Is this-?"

"Yes," David's grin faded to a smile.

"What is it?" Emma asked, confused. Then she remembered their story, and what King George did to Snow. What her grandfather did to her mother.

God, her family was messed up.

"Is that what I think it is?" She asked, kneeling beside Snow, getting a closer look at the pendant.

Snow looked up at Emma and nodded. Emma saw a few tears barely starting to form in her eyes.

"This is the pendant that told me you were going to be a girl," Snow smiled, blinking away tears that were trying to escape. She turned back to David. "Where did you find this?"

"I remember arriving at my home after our wedding and stashing it in a secret stash outside, in my stash of valuables, and I wanted to check if it was still there. It was, so I put it on right before we left."

Snow grabbed his face with her left hand, her right hand holding the necklace, and pulled him in for a short, but leisure, kiss. Knowing Emma was patiently waiting for them to stop, they broke apart.

"Do you know if it still works?" Emma asked, carrying on like there was no pause.

Snow looked back at the necklace - the pendant in the palm of her hand with the chain draping over the sides of her hand - and looked back up at David.

"I don't know," He answered for her. "My mother told me this was to find out what your first-born will be, but she didn't say anything about seconds.

An idea popped into Snow's head. She turned to Emma, but talking to David. "Let's try it and see. Emma, hold out your hand."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't think it'll work. I already had Henry, so it'll be kind of awkward when it doesn't move."

"Let's test it," Snow said again.

Finally, Emma held her hand out flat, palm facing upwards. Snow put her left hand underneath Emma's, keeping it still. With her right, Snow slipped the pendant through her hand and held onto the chain, hovering it over Emma's hand.

It immediately reacted, swinging straight in one direction, back and forth. North to south, David noted. He knew the directions of these woods still, but he still forgot which direction meant what. He looked up at his daughter, not liking the outcome of the necklace.

"I thought it only works for first-borns-" he murmured, staring back at the pendant silently swaying with no force whatsoever.

Snow looked up from the pendant and to David. She was in awe with him. "I think it just swings what you had before... it says boy."

She stopped the pendant from swinging anymore, snatching it up into her hand. She handed it to David, who took it from her and slipped it into his pocket. Emma was still sitting there, unsure of what to do.

"Maybe it swings for second children besides your first-born," Emma suggested. David immediately turned his attention to her.

"Emma, is there something you need to tell us?" He questioned. Emma's eyes went wide, realizing how she worded it.

"No! No, no, no, that's not what I meant," She stuttered. "You know me, I haven't done that stuff in... a while. I meant I could possibly be having another boy in the future."

He still didn't like her admitting that, but it's too late now. Snow gave him a look.

"Okay," David sighed. He pulled the necklace out of his pocket, looking back at Snow. She was looking back at him, staring into his eyes. "Snow, do you want to see if it truly works or not? It will either swing for girl, because of Emma, or none at all."

She looked down at the pendant. Slowly, she held her right hand out towards him, her palm facing up. He took her hand onto his, and raised his other hand over her's, dropping the pendant and holding onto it with the chain above. They stared back into each other's eyes. She sucked in a breath, remembering the last time he did this. David noticed her reaction, but he felt the same way.

A second later, the pendant started to move. At the noise, all three of them looked down, startled by the sight of the swaying pendant.

North. South. North. South.

"That's-" David slowly looked up at Snow. Her mouth was slightly open in awe. She looked back up at him. "That's not the direction for girl, is it...?"

"No," She said slowly. "Maybe it's- it's probably broken? Maybe it's stuck going north and south." She guessed. Emma stared at the pendant, still swaying over her mother's palm which was being held by her father's hand.

"No," He stated confidently, looking back down. "This isn't broken. My mother told me it was spelled by a gypsy."

Watching the swinging necklace, she remembered what Ruth told her. He's right, this was spelled by a gypsy, which means it should always work. But it was also to predict what your first-born would be. Emma did not come out to be a boy. If the pendant isn't possible to be broken, and it does not work _just_ for your first-born, then...

"Charming, what do you think this means?" She asked, meeting each other's eyes again.

He swallowed, and then answered.

"Snow, I don't think this works just for first-borns."

"What are you saying?" She asked.

"I know this swung for Emma to be a girl before she was conceived, but I think the next time it swings, the second child has to be conceived already," He paused for a moment, deep in thought. Yes, he now remembers his mother telling him that very briefly.

"So this means..." She spoke to herself, thinking it out. Could it be true?

"I think I know exactly what this means," He followed.

"This means... I'm _pregnant_," Snow stated, a smile slowly appearing on her face. David grinned down at her, grinning with her. Emma watched the two go in for a kiss, probably forgetting their own daughter was there.

"And," David continued into her mouth. "It's going to be a boy."

Snow grinned against his lips, deepening the kiss. David stopped the chain and put it back in his pocket, his lips still attached to Snow's, his tongue fighting her's to enter. He then brought his arms to go around her waist, while her arms linked behind his neck.

_It's going to be long time before they start for the castle_, Emma thought.

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**A/N: I'm sorry if this was very confusing. Even I was getting confused and off-track with all that.**

**If anyone is wondering, EMMA IS NOT PREGNANT. I wondered how I could squeeze that explanation in, but I couldn't find any way to. I might have to in the next chapter though. For her, it just swung for Henry, because he was a boy. But it swung for Snow a boy because he was already conceived. There haven't been any symptoms yet, like morning sickness and moods and hunger (well, a few chapters ago, I did let Snow say she was starving, but I let that slide into normality because I planned something else after that was posted), but remember the night before? Keep that in mind ;)**

**Thank you for reading! I LOVE your reviews! They keep me going and encourage me when I see that you REALLY want updates! And ask questions if you're still confused. I'm more than happy to help! I take requests, questions, statements, ANYTHING! You can even criticize something like grammar, punctuation, statements, etc. ALL REVIEWS ARE HELPFUL.**

_**I NOW TAKE PROMPTS.**_


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